A QUR'AN ON GOLD PAPER, INDIA, MUGHAL OR DECCAN, 18TH CENTURY

Illuminated Arabic manuscript on gold paper, 416 leaves, 14 lines per page written in neat naskhi script in black ink on gold-coated paper, gold discs between verses, sura headings written in white on ruled panels, opening folio with prayers, fully illuminated double page with text of Surat al-Fatiha, further illuminated double page with beginning of Surat al-Baqara, final pages with closing prayers, contemporary gilded covers with flowers painted in colours over gold, varnished, set into later brown morocco binding

This Qur'an manuscript is remarkable for being written entirely on gold-coated paper, a phenomenon seen on only a very small number of Qur'ans. The style of the illumination at the beginning points to an Indian origin, perhaps in the Deccan. A similar Qur'an was sold in these rooms 15 October 1984, lot 265.