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Lot Essay
This fragment is from a manuscript of great power and simple beauty. The letter forms to an extent recall those of what Déroche terms the 'D' group, which is the most varied group of the early Abbasid scripts. In nature the line is thick and the vertical upstrokes are always perpendicular to the base line. The scribe of this Qur'an does not appear to have prepared the parchment by marking the lines, instead copying the manuscript free-hand, resulting in occasional uneven lines.
The sculptural nature of the kufic of this Qur'an folio relates closely to that of one in the Khalili Collection attributed to late ninth century North Africa or Egypt (Abu Dhabi, 2008, no.10, p.36).
Another folio from this Qur'an, sold in these Rooms, 11 October 1988, lot 40 is now in the Khalili Collection. Déroche notes in his catalogue entry on that leaf that on the basis of the script, this Qur'an may have been part of the famous MS.322 in the Institute of Oriental Studies in Leningrad (al-Munajjid, 1960, pl.I, in Déroche, 1992, no.69, p.126).
Other folios and sections from the same Qur'an have appeared at auction. Most recently a section was sold in these Rooms, 9 October 2014, lot 16.
The sculptural nature of the kufic of this Qur'an folio relates closely to that of one in the Khalili Collection attributed to late ninth century North Africa or Egypt (Abu Dhabi, 2008, no.10, p.36).
Another folio from this Qur'an, sold in these Rooms, 11 October 1988, lot 40 is now in the Khalili Collection. Déroche notes in his catalogue entry on that leaf that on the basis of the script, this Qur'an may have been part of the famous MS.322 in the Institute of Oriental Studies in Leningrad (al-Munajjid, 1960, pl.I, in Déroche, 1992, no.69, p.126).
Other folios and sections from the same Qur'an have appeared at auction. Most recently a section was sold in these Rooms, 9 October 2014, lot 16.