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A leaf from the 'Five Suras', in muhaqqaq script copied by Abu Muhammad Abdul Qayyum ibn Muhammad ibn Karamshah-I Tabrizi, PERSIA OR MESOPOTAMIA, PROBABLY JALA'IRID BAGHDAD, circa 1370
Description
Arabic manuscript on paper, 5 lines to the page written in elegant muhaqqaq script in black ink outlined in gold, diacritics and vowel points in black ink outlined in gold, two illuminated circular verse markers decorated with a geometric knot and dotted border outlined in blue, inner margins ruled in red, blue and gold
Catalogue Note
This magnificent folio formed part of a prayer-book known as the Five Suras Manuscript. As its name would suggest the manuscript consisted of five suras, all of which begin with the phrase al-hamdu li-l-Lah (chapters I, V, XVIII, XXXIV and XXXV). The manuscript is remarkable for its outstanding beauty and highly accomplished gold-outlined muhaqqaq. David James observes that the calligrapher achieves "faultless perfection... equalled only by Ibn al-Suhrawardi in the Qur'an he produced in Baghdad in the early years of the 14th Century" (James, D., Qur'ans of the Mamluks, London, 1992, cat.1, p.16).
It is rare indeed to find a genuine example of work from the masters of this period, and the inclusion of a colophon bearing the signature of the scribe "copied by the weak slave who implores the Lord's mercy, Abu-Muhammad 'Abdul Qayyum, son of Muhammad, son of Karimshah-i Tabrizi" is another remarkable feature of this manuscript. Abolala Soudavar has suggested on stylistic grounds that the compilation of Quranic verses from which this leaf originated was made for the Jala'irid ruler Shaykh Uways (Soudavar, A., Art of the Persian Court, Selections from the Art and History Trust Collection, New York, 1992, cat.19, pp.50-51).
The extremely fine illumination looks back to that of the Ilkhanid imperial Qur'ans, such as Uljaytu's Mosul Qur'an, and the superb muhaqqaq script looks forward to the monumental Qur'an attributed to Baysunghur but most likely commissioned by his grandfather Timur (reigned 1370-1405).
The present folio and the folio in the following lot are in remarkably good condition, even preserving their original margins, in contrast to other leaves from the manuscript, of which there have been a number on the market, which are invariably reduced and remargined.