An illuminated Qur’an juz’ (XIX), Turkey, Ottoman, late 14th/early 15th century

text: surah al-furqan (XXV), beginning of verse 21 to surah al-naml (XXVII), beginning of verse 24
Arabic manuscript on polished paper, 38 leaves, 5 lines to the page, written in large gold muhaqqaq script outlined in black, incomplete, double page frontispiece with upper and lower text in large ornamental Kufic script against a plain ground filled with gold-scrolling split-palmettes, later red morocco binding with central gilt-stamped cartouches

In overall good condition, the margins with occasional paper repairs but overall clean with only very minor annotations, minor water and various stains throughout the text, the opening illumination with paper repairs and minor holes, binding worn, otherwise the text is clean, as viewed.
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The present Qur'an juz' comes from the same series as a further example sold in these rooms, 19 October 2016, lot 108 (also from the Ghazi Collection), although this section lacks the surah headings in large thuluth script in blue ink. The spare line left at the beginning of surah XXVI and XXVII is a clear indication that the headings were intended to be painted in a different colour, probably blue. The opening illumination, which combines muhaqqaq and Kufic scripts is more closely related to other examples sold in these rooms, 16 April 1985, lot 192, and 19 October 2016, lot 122.

Whilst the present juz' and that of the following lot don't appear to belong to the same thirty-part set, they are likely to have been produced at around the same time in the same place. The calligraphy of the present manuscript, whilst executed entirely in gold, is slightly larger and a little less refined than that of lot 12, although the illuminated frontispiece is of similar construction. It seems likely that the same scriptorium or workshop of illuminators may have worked on a number of similar though slightly different Qur'an commissions at roughly the same time during the first half of the fifteenth century.