A Qur'an bifolium in muhaqqaq script on paper, Anatolia or Central Asia, circa 1300-35

Ex-private collection, New York

Sotheby's, London, 24 October 2007, lot 15

These two folios originate from a manuscript thought to have been produced in Anatolia or Central Asia. Further folios from the group have been decorated later with border illumination and extracts from the hadith in Kufic, such as a bifolium sold at Christie's, London, 27 April 2023, lot 15. However, these two folios are undecorated emphasising the bold use of space and striking muhaqqaq script.  Other leaves from the same Qur’an are now in museums and private collections including the British Library; the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin; the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.; the Rietberg Museum, Zurich; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Nasser D. Khalili Collection, London. For further discussion see James 1988, pp.173-4, cat. nos.58-60; Arberry 1967, pl.48; Losty 1986, no.5 and James 1992a, no.51.