Qur'an leaf in kufic script on vellum, North Africa or Near East, Circa 900 A.D.

text: surat aal 'umran (iii) vv:191-195



7 lines per page written in bold extended kufic script in brown ink on vellum, letter pointing of brown diagonal dashes, vocalisation of red dots, single verses marked with a gold floret decorated with coloured dots

Leaves from this Qur'an are very rare at auction, previous to this sale only a few others have been offered publicly, including two single leaves and a bifolium in these rooms 3 May 2001, lots 4, 5 and 6.  This group of leaves exhibits a number of features associating it with a manuscript in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.  Although its measurements are not exactly similar to this leaf or those sold previously (the section in the Bodleian measures 20.2 by 31cm. and is probably slightly trimmed), the script, its arrangement on the page and the vocalisation would indicate that they are all from one and the same manuscript.