Arts of the Islamic World
Arts of the Islamic World
AN ILLUMINATED COLLECTION OF PRAYERS, INCLUDING DALA’IL AL-KHAYRAT, COPIED BY KHAN YUNUS KHAN BAHU, NORTH INDIA, KASHMIR, DATED 1223 AH/1808 AD
Auction Closed
October 23, 04:16 PM GMT
Estimate
3,000 - 5,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
AN ILLUMINATED COLLECTION OF PRAYERS, INCLUDING DALA’IL AL-KHAYRAT, COPIED BY KHAN YUNUS KHAN BAHU, NORTH INDIA, KASHMIR, DATED 1223 AH/1808 AD
Arabic manuscript on paper, 96 leaves plus 4 fly-leaves, 15 lines to the page, the text written in black naskh divided into two sections decorated by floral scrolls, alternating with 3 lines of black thuluth against a gold ground, some words in red, 8 illuminated double pages, densely decorated with interlacing flowers on a blue and gold ground, one gold and polychrome heading (‘unwan), f.11b and 12a with paintings of Mecca and Medina, in lacquered Kashmiri binding decorated with flowers
19.5 by 11.8cm.
The current copy of Al-Jazuli's Dalai'l al-Khayrat not only provides us with the name of the scribe, Khan Yunus Khan Bahu, but also a very precise date, Sha’ban 1223 AH (September 1808 AD). The two illustrations of Mecca and Medina are very fine and decorated with little details from local architecture or works of art, such as the two bidri ewers on the Medina illustration. Another Dala'il al-Khayrat copied just three years earlier with closely comparable illumination was sold at Christie’s London, 27 October 2010, lot 40.