Matthew Thomas
Senior Specialist
![An illuminated Qur'an, Husain al-Zahidi, a pupil of Ahmad al-Nazifi Ottoman Turkey, dated AH [1]269/AD 1852-53 image 1](/_next/image.jpg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg1.bonhams.com%2Fimage%3Fsrc%3DImages%2Flive%2F2020-09%2F21%2F25000021-23-1.jpg&w=2400&q=75)
![An illuminated Qur'an, Husain al-Zahidi, a pupil of Ahmad al-Nazifi Ottoman Turkey, dated AH [1]269/AD 1852-53 image 2](/_next/image.jpg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg1.bonhams.com%2Fimage%3Fsrc%3DImages%2Flive%2F2020-09%2F21%2F25000021-23-2.jpg&w=2400&q=75)
Lot 20•
An illuminated Qur'an, Husain al-Zahidi, a pupil of Ahmad al-Nazifi Ottoman Turkey, dated AH [1]269/AD 1852-53
Amended
26 October 2020, 11:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£1,200 - £1,800
Looking for a similar item?
Our Islamic and Indian Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot
An illuminated Qur'an, Husain al-Zahidi, a pupil of Ahmad al-Nazifi
Ottoman Turkey, dated AH [1]269/AD 1852-53
Ottoman Turkey, dated AH [1]269/AD 1852-53
Arabic manuscript on paper, 303 leaves, 15 lines to the page written in naskhi script in black ink with diacritics and vowel points in black and red, gold discs marking verse-endings, inner margins ruled in black, red and gold, catchwords, illuminated devices in wide outer margins, sura headings written in naskhi script in white on a gold ground, one double-page illuminated frontispiece, colophon within an illuminated cartouche, dark red morocco with stamped central medallions and cornerpieces, spine rebacked
199 x 135 mm.
199 x 135 mm.
Footnotes
Provenance
The estate of a distinguished Iranian academic, California, USA.
Saleroom notices
Additional note: The scribe of this Qur'an Huseyin Zahidi is listed as one of the pupils of Ahmed Nazifi, Evliya-zade, who according to T. Stanley was one of the main teachers of Shumen calligraphers. See his chapter entitled 'The Shumen Phenomenon', in J. Raby (ed.), The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, vol. IV, The Decorated Word, Part Two, 2009, pp. 222-251, and p. 247 for his list of scribes. The Shumen school originated in the city of Shumen in north-east Bulgaria, and became a leading provincial centre for the production of copies of the Qur'an from the 1820s to the 1870s, when developments in lithography led to its decline.