Arts of the Islamic World & India including Fine Rugs and Carpets

An illuminated Qur’an, Persia, Safavid and Qajar, second half 16th and 19th century

Auction Closed

March 30, 12:47 PM GMT

Estimate

50,000 - 80,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Arabic manuscript on paper, 499 leaves plus 2 fly-leaves, 13 lines to the page, the first, middle and last written in gold or blue muhaqqaq, the intervening lines in neat black naskh on gold speckled paper, ruled in blue and gold, verses separated by gold and blue rosettes, surah headings in white against a gold ground within a polychrome cartouche, Qajar period remargining throughout, with gold and polychrome verse markers in the margins and cartouches with commentary in black shikasteh in clouds against a gold ground, f.1a with a gold and polychrome shamsa, f.1b and 2a with a double-page illuminated frontispiece comprising a central lobed panel against a blue ground decorated with floral scrolls, f.2b with a polychrome and gold illuminated heading, the text of this bifolium written within clouds against a gold ground, f.492b and 493a with a falnama in alternating gold and white within cartouches surrounded by an illuminated border, in Qajar lacquer binding, each board decorated with a nightingale perching on branches (gol-e bulbul)

30.2 by 19cm.

Please note that there may be restrictions on the import of property of Iranian origin into some or all member countries of the Gulf Co-Operation Council. Any buyers planning to import property of Iranian origin into any of these countries should satisfy themselves of the relevant import regime. Sotheby's will not assist buyers with the shipment of such items into countries of the Gulf Co-Operation Council. In addition, Fedex and US courier services will no longer carry Iranian origin goods to any location. Any shipment services would need to be provided by a Fine Art shipping company.

Private collection, U.S.A., since 3rd quarter 20th century.

This magnificent Safavid Qur’an illustrates the height of Safavid illumination in the second half of the sixteenth century. The overall layout of the double-page spread of illumination on ff.1b-2a is comparable to a Qur’an attributed to Shiraz, circa 1580, now in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, Istanbul, inv. no.TIEM 375, published in M. Unustasi (ed.), The 1400^th Anniversary of the Qur’an, Istanbul, 2010, cat.83, no.328.