Qur'an

Lot 254. An important Safavid silk and metal-thread 'Polonaise' carpet, Isfahan, Central Persia, first quarter 17th century; 6ft.7in. x 4ft.6in. (205cm. x 141cm.) Estimate: £600,000 - £800,000 (US$783,427 - US$1,044,570). Sold for £3,895,000 / €4,529,885 / $5,079,080. New world record price for a ‘Polonaise’ carpet at auction. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019.  LONDON.- The top lot was an important Safavid silk and metal-thread 'Polonaise' carpet from Isfahan, central Persia, first quarter 17th... [Lire la suite]

Lot 20. A large illuminated Qur'an, Persia, probably Shiraz, Safavid, second half 16th century; 35.5 by 24.5cm. Estimate 80,000 — 120,000 GBP. Lot sold 93,750 GBP (108,694 EUR). Courtesy Sotheby's. Arabic manuscript on paper, 439 leaves plus 4 fly-leaves, 11 lines to the page, comprising 2 lines of large muhaqqaq script in black at the top and bottom, a middle line of large gold muhaqqaq outlined in black, 8 lines of black naskh against a gold speckled... [Lire la suite]

Taqsireh (Lady festive jacket), Palestine, late 19th or early 20th century, Vatican Anima Mundi Museum, inv. 112314.  Photo © Vatican Museums.  CANBERRA.- Fine embroidered textiles, camel and horse saddles, musical instruments and carved amulets, headline a new exhibition on view at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, which showcases intriguing objects from the Anima Mundi Museum, the section of the Vatican Museums devoted to extra-European collections, and the Sharjah... [Lire la suite]

 Qur’an. Calligrapher: Ali b. Mahmud al-Havavi; Iran, Tabriz, Safavid period, January 15, 1516; Ink, color, and gold on paper; Each page 41 × 29cm; Istanbul, Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, TIEM 232. Photo Hadiye Cangokce / Istanbul, Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts The first major exhibition of Qur'ans (Korans) in the U.S., "The Art of the Qur'an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts," will open at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Oct. 15 and continue through Feb. 20,... [Lire la suite]

Shamsa, Qur'an, Ruzbihan al-Shirazi. Early 16th Century, Iran. Is 1558, f. 2a. Chester Beatty Library. The Ruzbihan Qur’an opens with an apparent burst of light in the form of paired shamsas. Each shamsa (‘sun’) is executed mainly in lapis and gold—the two most expensive pigments available to the illuminator—and surrounded by near-shimmering rays. DUBLIN.- One of the most magnificent Qur’ans ever produced is going on display at Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, following extensive conservation... [Lire la suite]

  A collection of 126 leaves from a 15th century illuminated Mamluk Qur’an. Estimate £12,000-18,000. Photo Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions. LONDON.- Bloomsbury Auctions present their sale of Continental, English & Middle Eastern Books & Manuscripts on Thursday 19th March in London at their saleroom in Mayfair. The sale charts the development of printing on the continent and in England, with works dating from the 1470s up until the 18th century.  Particularly in vogue after the release of... [Lire la suite]

Inkwell, ca 1275 AD. Al Jazira or West Persia. Copper alloy, gold, silver, and lead. Height: 5.9 cm. Furusiyya Art Foundation, Liechtenstein. Photo © Noel Adams DALLAS, TX.- From March 30 through June 29, 2014, the Dallas Museum of Art will host Nur: Light in Art and Science from the Islamic World. The DMA is the only venue outside of Europe to host this international touring exhibition of Islamic art and culture co-organized by the DMA and the Focus-Abengoa Foundation. Critically acclaimed by such publications as The Financial... [Lire la suite]

Sultan Baybars' Qur'an. Calligraphy by Muhammad ibn al-Wahid, illumination by Muhammad ibn Mubadir and Aydughdi ibn 'Abd Allah al-Badri, Cairo, AD 1304. British Library Add. MS. 22406, ff.2v-3.  © The British Library Board

Detail of an illuminated page from part 7 of a 30-part Mamluk Qur'an, probably Cairo, 14th century  16 x 16cm (detail shown). QUR0950 det. The Khalili collections © 2011 Khalili Family Trust

Part 29 of a 30-part Qur'an. Khanbaliq (Beijing) dated 1401. QUR0974 fol 1 det. The Khalili collections © 2011 Khalili Family Trust 24.5 x 17.5cm. lluminated frontispiece with ornamental script, from a 30-part Qur'an. This is an early specimen of a type of Qur’anic manuscript with its roots in eastern Iran, produced by the Huihui, or Chinese Muslims, under the Ming and Qing dynasties.