ANATOLIA OR CENTRAL ASIA, EARLY 14TH CENTURY

This bifolium belongs comes from a Qur'an section which has been convincingly attributed to Anatolia or Central Asia circa 1335 AD (David James, Qur'ans of the Mamluks, New York, 1988, nos. 58-60, pp. 173-4.). The section published by James is devoid of the decorative kufic borders but shares the same layout with Persian interlinear translation.

The illuminated borders are not contemporary with the text and likely added in the early-modern period, perhaps in Central Asia. The present lot is a particularly fine example of this intriguing manuscript, with bifolia significantly rarer than single folios. Another bifolium, formerly in the Stuart Cary Welch Collection was sold in Sotheby's, London, 6 April 2011, lot 27.

Further known folios from the Qur'an are found in private collections and museums including the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, the British Museum, London, the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., the Rietberg Museum, Zurich, and the Nasser D. Khalili Collection, London.