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An illuminated sura heading and a single line from a large Ilkhanid manuscript of the Qur'an Iraq, early 14th Century image 1
An illuminated sura heading and a single line from a large Ilkhanid manuscript of the Qur'an Iraq, early 14th Century image 2
Lot 2†

An illuminated sura heading and a single line from a large Ilkhanid manuscript of the Qur'an
Iraq, early 14th Century

Amended
Islamic and Indian Art
12 November 2024, 11:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street

£6,000 - £8,000

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An illuminated sura heading and a single line from a large Ilkhanid manuscript of the Qur'an
Iraq, early 14th Century

Arabic manuscript on cream paper, consisting of a section with an illuminated sura heading written in naskhi script in white against a ground of scrolling grey-green foliate motifs on a gold ground, below this part of the first line, written in large and fine muhaqqaq script in black outlined in gold, in frame
155 x 255 mm.

Footnotes

Text
Qur'an, sura IV, al-Ma'idah, heading and the bismallah only.

A thirty-section Qur'an was commissioned by the Ilkhanid ruler Uljaytu in 1306-11, its controlled and elegant large muhaqqaq script the work of Ali ibn Muhammad al-Husaini, who is also thought to have been the illuminator (see D. James, Qur'ans of the Mamluks, London 1988, p. 101). Sections of this Qur'an are now in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Ms.1613, the Topkapi Saray Library, EH232, the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, Istanbul, 540, and the Bayezit Library, Amasya, K1052 (see James, op. cit., pp. 100-103, figs. 64-71, cat. 42).

For a fragment of seven lines attributed to a manuscript of the Qur'an commissioned by Sultan Uljaytu Khan, Mosul, circa 1306-1311, see Sotheby's, Arts of the Islamic World including 20th Century Middle Eastern Painting, 3rd May 2001, lot 11.

For two sections, comprising three lines from the same manuscript as the present lot, see the sale in these rooms, Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 23rd May 2023, lot 2.

For a large leaf from an Ilkhanid Qur'an, written in muhaqqaq script with alternating gold and blue lines, in the Museum of Islamic Art, Qatar (MS. 643), see J. Gonnella (ed.), Museum of Islamic Art: the Collection, London 2022, pp. 88-89.

Saleroom notices

Please note that the measurement for the present lot should be in 'mm', not 'm' as stated in the printed catalogue.

Additional information

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