NORTH AFRICA OR NEAR EAST, 9TH/10TH CENTURY

This kufic Qur’an folio is remarkable for the finely drawn gold and polychrome illuminated palmette which extends into the margin. The bold foliage contained within this palmette is closely related to that found on an illuminated folio in the Khalili Collection which François Déroche dates to the 9th Century (François Déroche, The Abbasid Tradition (Nasser D Khalili Collection of Islamic Art), London, 1992, cat.67, pp.123-24). For another leaf from the same Qur'an see lot 54 in this sale.