Arts of the Islamic World & India

A wooden Qur'an board, Sub-Saharan Africa, probably Nigeria, late 19th/early 20th century

Auction Closed

October 25, 04:59 PM GMT

Estimate

6,000 - 8,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

text: Qur'an, surah al-Kahf (XVIII), verse 31-75

Arabic manuscript on wood, recto with 25 lines of text written in Barnawi in dark brown ink, verso with 24 lines of text, verses separated by clusters of two vertical dashes beneath a dot and circles, a curved handle at the top wrapped in leather, with two feet

58.9 by 31cm.

Beauty and Belief, Brigham Young University Museum of Art, Utah, USA, 24 February 2012 - 8 September 2013.

Trésors de l'Islam en Afrique: De Tombouctou à Zanzibar, Institut de Monde Arabe, Paris, France, 13 April 2017 - 30 July 2017.

The Islamic Treasures of Africa: From Timbuktu to Zanzibar, Institut du Monde Arabe, Rabat, Morocco, 16 October 2019 – 25 February 2020.

Sabiha al-Khemir, Beauty and Belief: Crossing Bridges with the Arts of Islamic Culture, Utah, 2012, p. 194

In Sub-Saharan Africa, Qur’an boards such as the present lot were used as teaching tools for students to learn to read and write the Arabic language and, subsequently, read and memorise the Qur’anic text. A closely comparable Qur’an board is in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (inv. no.95.83) and is thought to have been produced in the city of Kano in northern Nigeria. The curved based of boards such as this one, allowed the user to comfortably rest it against their waist or legs.