Thursday, December 1, 2011

Ancient Manuscript Review 39 : Antique Safavid Quran ( 975 AH)

Manuscript Cover

The Shamsah pages

The frontispiece pages

The beginning of Al Baqarah

Surahs in Juz30

The final surah pages

The finishpiece pages


This is the most expensive miniature Quran I ever acquired. Its a Safavid handwritten Quran with beautiful gold illuminations especially on the first 5 pages & last 4 pages. This Quran was written in 975 AH ( 1567 CE) during Safavid rule in Iran. This Quran is also small in size.
Design & Style :
The first 2 pages are decorated with Shamsah medallions and the subsequent 2 pages are called frontispiece pages decorated with carpet design.
Lets look at the history of this unique design. According to a book " Quran Manuscripts Calligraphy, Illuminaiton, Design" by Colin F. Baker, this design was created during the rule of Safavid in the 16th century in Persia & Iraq.
The name of this medallion in Arabic is Shamsah ( sun), because the its shape & illumination resemble the sun and its brightness. This Shamsah design is pretty consistent with some of 16th century manuscripts from the catalog " Treasures of the illustrated & illuminated Persian Manuscripts of National library of Egypt)
As for the  frontispiece pages which has the carpet design, they contains the whole chapter one ( AlFatihah).
Almost all the pages in this Quran are decorated with few floral design in the margin. This marginal design acts as a verse marker. The Safavid marginal designs were mostly filled with intricate flower motifs. ( from the book AL Quran The Sacred Art of Revelation)


Manuscript Specs

Item : Antique Safavid Quran
Content : A complete Quran
Dim : 5.5" x 3.5" x 2"
Date : 975 AH ( 1567 CE)
Copyist : indecipherable
Origin : Iran / Afghanistan
Calligraphy : Naskh
Design : 16 lines written in Naskh with gold border and colorful flowers in margin.
Purchased Price :US

9 comments:

  1. Is this for sale?How much?

    Ali

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is not for sale. However I have contacts who have some old Qurans for sale. Please forward me you email addy for further communication.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. here is my email address, I am very interested in Persian manuscripts, miniatures, and Qurans. Many thanks for your help.

      bluebell913@hotmail.com

      Ali

      Delete
  3. can you send me the contact info of those who have old quran copies. my email address utkamal@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Please contact me on this e-mail if you have any Qurans for sale. a.k_sh@hotmail.com.

    ReplyDelete
  5. i have old quran for sale if some on interested contact me on haitham_najjar@live.com by email and will send hem photos and price

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have antique holy Quran handwritten if anyone interested to buy please contact me (azaher27@gmail.com)

    ReplyDelete
  7. У меня есть древнейший книга Коран который аналогов нету книга приблизительно 800 лет хотелось бы оценить его

    ReplyDelete
  8. abdullaevbaxodir68@gmail.com здравствуйте господа у меня есть книга Коран которому не меньше не меньше 800 лет... Как я заметил у неё нету аналогов хотел бы его оценить пожалуйста моя электронная почта сверху соедините со мной

    ReplyDelete