Lot 126 A SMALL ILLUMINATED EARLY SAFAVID QURAN, PERSIA, 16TH CENTURY
A complete Quran, Arabic manuscript on cream paper, comprising a complete Quran, each page with 15 lines of elegant black naskh script within gold and blue ruled borders, gold roundel verse markers outlined in black, vocalisation and tajwīd in red; surah headings in white thuluth reserved against a gilt ground within illuminated panels; margins with gold and polychrome roundels indicating juzʾ and ḥizb, with occasional marginal annotations and commentaries.
Opening with two finely illuminated bifolia, richly decorated in gold and polychrome with dense arabesques framing panels enclosing Sūrat al-Fātiḥa, the palette dominated by deep lapis blue and burnished gold; subsequent folios with refined geometric and vegetal illumination. The final two pages with duʿāʾ al-khatm written within gilt floral scrolls.
In a contemporary brown morocco binding, decorated with gold-painted floral motifs, worn.
Text area: 5 by 8.2 cm.
Folio: 8.5 by 13 cm.
Catalogue note:
This refined Quran is a fine example of Safavid manuscript production, combining clarity of script with a restrained yet luxurious decorative programme. The compact format, together with the careful articulation of the page through ruled borders and marginal medallions, reflects the Safavid concern with both readability and aesthetic harmony.
The illuminated opening bifolia, with their intricate interlacing vegetal motifs in gold and blue, relate closely to manuscript production in centres such as Shiraz and Tabriz during the 16th century. The use of white thuluth for sūrah headings against a gilt ground further underscores the manuscript’s high level of craftsmanship.
The presence of marginal annotations suggests that the manuscript was not only a work of art but also an object of sustained devotional use.