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Description

Qur'an, Sultanate India, 15th - 16th century Manuscript on paper with 13 lines of text per page in behârî Arabic, in black and orange-red inks. Introductory and final double pages illuminated in gold and polychrome, the text framed by cartouches decorated with medallions on a red background and surrounded by a margin decorated with fleurons on a sky-blue background. Further illumination in the text: verses separated by gilded rosettes, suras by colored and gilded rectangular cartouches, and margins embellished with medallions, some indicating text divisions. Some marginal notes. Later binding in brown morocco with stamped decoration of a floral band. Binding size: 30.6 x 19.9 cm Restorations, wetness, some folios cut, stains, some later handwritten notes, later binding restored. Copies of the Koran produced in the India of the Sultanates, the period of Islamic occupation of India preceding the Mughal Empire (1526-1857), are rare. While most evidence of pre-Mughal Qur'anic book art consists of isolated folios, complete Qur'ans such as ours are exceptional. The oldest complete Indian Qur'an known to date is the Gwalior Qur'an dated July 11, 1399, signed and preserved today in the collection of the Aga Khan of Toronto (AKM 281). Another example is the two-volume 15th-century Qur'an in the Khalili Collection, London (QUR 237). Indian production between the late 14th and 16th centuries is characterized by the cursive calligraphy of behârî or bihari, with long horizontal letters leaving large spaces between words. The use of red-orange ink to liven up the black-ink text is also very common in known manuscripts from this period. The rhythm shown here, with a regular alternation of one red line for every five black, can also be seen on pages of a Qur'an in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (EA 1990.1271. a-f). This bright red is also found in illuminated decorations, such as the cartouches separating the verses and the marginal medallions, alongside other paler colors such as mauve or sky blue. When they have come down to us in their entirety, copies of the Qur'an, generally in large format, have often lost their original binding, as is the case with this copy, leaving the mystery of its original appearance unanswered. Many questions about this production remain unanswered, and each new piece appearing on the market adds to our knowledge of these masterpieces, which often fall victim to the political instability of their countries of origin, or to the difficulties of conserving their fragile materials. Bibliography : BRAC DE LA PERRIERE, Eloïse, L'art du livre dans l'Inde des sultanats, Paris, Presses de l'Université Paris-Sorbonne: 2008.

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Qur'an, Sultanate India, 15th - 16th century Manuscript on paper with 13 lines of text per page in behârî Arabic, in black and orange-red inks. Introductory and final double pages illuminated in gold and polychrome, the text framed by cartouches decorated with medallions on a red background and surrounded by a margin decorated with fleurons on a sky-blue background. Further illumination in the text: verses separated by gilded rosettes, suras by colored and gilded rectangular cartouches, and margins embellished with medallions, some indicating text divisions. Some marginal notes. Later binding in brown morocco with stamped decoration of a floral band. Binding size: 30.6 x 19.9 cm Restorations, wetness, some folios cut, stains, some later handwritten notes, later binding restored. Copies of the Koran produced in the India of the Sultanates, the period of Islamic occupation of India preceding the Mughal Empire (1526-1857), are rare. While most evidence of pre-Mughal Qur'anic book art consists of isolated folios, complete Qur'ans such as ours are exceptional. The oldest complete Indian Qur'an known to date is the Gwalior Qur'an dated July 11, 1399, signed and preserved today in the collection of the Aga Khan of Toronto (AKM 281). Another example is the two-volume 15th-century Qur'an in the Khalili Collection, London (QUR 237). Indian production between the late 14th and 16th centuries is characterized by the cursive calligraphy of behârî or bihari, with long horizontal letters leaving large spaces between words. The use of red-orange ink to liven up the black-ink text is also very common in known manuscripts from this period. The rhythm shown here, with a regular alternation of one red line for every five black, can also be seen on pages of a Qur'an in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (EA 1990.1271. a-f). This bright red is also found in illuminated decorations, such as the cartouches separating the verses and the marginal medallions, alongside other paler colors such as mauve or sky blue. When they have come down to us in their entirety, copies of the Qur'an, generally in large format, have often lost their original binding, as is the case with this copy, leaving the mystery of its original appearance unanswered. Many questions about this production remain unanswered, and each new piece appearing on the market adds to our knowledge of these masterpieces, which often fall victim to the political instability of their countries of origin, or to the difficulties of conserving their fragile materials. Bibliography : BRAC DE LA PERRIERE, Eloïse, L'art du livre dans l'Inde des sultanats, Paris, Presses de l'Université Paris-Sorbonne: 2008.

Estimate 8 000 - 12 000 EUR

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For sale on Tuesday 02 Jul : 14:00 (CEST)
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