2014.398: Manuscript of the Qur’an, with leather binding

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2014.398

Title

Manuscript of the Qur’an, with leather binding

Classification

Manuscripts

Work Type

manuscript

Date

1774

Places

Creation Place: Middle East, Iran

Period

Zand period

Culture

Persian

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/351912

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Gilded leather (binding) and ink, gold, and colors on paper (text)

Dimensions

11 x 7 cm (4 5/16 x 2 3/4 in.)
Text area: 9.4 x 5.5 cm.

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Ezzat-Malek Soudavar, Geneva, Switzerland (by 2014), by descent; to her son Abolala Soudavar, Houston, Texas (2014), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2014.

Note:
Ezzat-Malek Soudavar (1913-2014) formed this collection over a period of sixty years. She purchased the works of art on the international art market.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of A. Soudavar in memory of his mother Ezzat-Malek Soudavar

Accession Year

2014

Object Number

2014.398

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

This hand-sized Qur'an manuscript opens with double illuminated text pages. The text has been copied in 21 lines to a page in black ink in naskh script. Chapter headings as well as verse markers have been illuminated. The main text of the Qur'an ends with a prayer on the last folio. The manuscript was copied by the scribe, Ibn Muhammad Salih Muhammad Hashim al-Isfahani, for Mirza Abu'l-Hasan in Ramadan 1188 (December 1774) according to the colophon. The manuscript has been repaired and the present leather binding with gilded decoration most likely belongs to this later phase.

Verification Level