Forty-nine illuminated leaves from a monumental Qur'an in Bihari script, India, Sultanate, 16th century
Auction Closed
October 25, 04:59 PM GMT
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Forty-nine illuminated leaves from a monumental Qur'an in Bihari script, India, Sultanate, 16th century
Arabic manuscript on paper, 49 leaves, plus 4 fly-leaves, 15 lines to the page written in Bihari in black ink, the word Allah and key phrases picked out in gold, verses separated by gold and polychrome rosettes, further text divisions marked by large gold and polychrome marginal medallions, surah headings in white and gold on gold and polychrome illuminated panels, ruled in red and black with marginal notes, in red leather binding, green leather doublures
leaf: 54.1 by 32.9cm.
The present group of leaves display a particularly impressive commission conceived on a monumental scale. The distinctive Bihari script of this Qur’an is said to be a relation of naskh, but the tradition of copying Qur’ans in this hand appears to have lasted only from the period between the collapse of the Delhi Sultanate at the end of the fourteenth century and the rise of the Mughals in the mid-sixteenth century. A group of thirty-five leaves from the same Qur’an were sold in these rooms, 26 April 2023, lot 25 and a single leaf was sold in these rooms, 23 October 2019, lot 18.
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