A Kufic Qur'an leaf, Near East or North Africa, 8th-9th century

Auction Closed

April 30, 03:48 PM GMT

Estimate

8,000 - 12,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

text: Qur'an, surah al-An'am (VI), verses 20-35

Arabic manuscript on vellum, 16 lines of dark sepia Kufic script per page, vocalisation in the form of red dots, end of verses marked with row of small brown dashes, end of verse 34 marked with the outline of a pseudo-alif, end of verse 29 marked with a red roundel

28 by 35.1cm.

This large and beautiful Qur'an leaf is executed in early and stately Kufic script that still shows some influence of the earlier Hijazi scripts, most notably in the rightward lean of the verticals of the letters. The script has been classified as C.1b by François Déroche and is visible as early as 691 AD on the inscriptions on the Dome of the Rock and thereafter persisted throughout the eighth century. For a discussion of this style and similar examples, see Déroche 1992, p.36.