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Lot Essay
A bifolio from this impressive manuscript is in the Khalili Collection (acc.no.QUR627). In a discussion of those folios, David James suggests that they come from a manuscript which was shown intact at the Habib Anavian Gallery, New York, in 1979, after which it was broken up. The exhibition catalogue records that the folio was produced in Egypt in the year AH 969 / 1561-2 AD and records the name of the scribe. Unfortunately, the current whereabouts of the colophon page are unknown. A Cairene origin does seem likely for this manuscript - the high quality of the muhaqqaq script looks to the finest examples of Mamluk royal manuscripts, such as the impressive Qur'an prepared for Qansuh al-Ghuri in the John Rylands Library, Manchester which - with folios measuring 88 x 29cm. - is among the largest Qur'an manuscripts known (acc.no.MS 42).
Further bifolios from this Qur'an are in the Detroit Institute of Arts (acc.no.1997.17.a) and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (acc.no.M.85.237.73). Those to come on the market in recent years include examples sold Bonhams London, 24 April 2018, lot 6 and another sold by Pichon & Noudel-Deniau, Maison Drouot, 26 October 2023, lot 179, as well as a bifolio sold in these Rooms, 5 October 2010, lot 136.
Further bifolios from this Qur'an are in the Detroit Institute of Arts (acc.no.1997.17.a) and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (acc.no.M.85.237.73). Those to come on the market in recent years include examples sold Bonhams London, 24 April 2018, lot 6 and another sold by Pichon & Noudel-Deniau, Maison Drouot, 26 October 2023, lot 179, as well as a bifolio sold in these Rooms, 5 October 2010, lot 136.