2014.400: Manuscript of the Qur’an, with lacquer binding

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2014.400

Title

Manuscript of the Qur’an, with lacquer binding

Classification

Manuscripts

Work Type

manuscript

Date

1794 and 1812-1813

Places

Creation Place: Middle East, Iran

Period

Qajar period

Culture

Persian

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/351914

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Watercolor, gold-colored pigments, copper particles, and lacquer over brass layer on pasteboard (covers) Ink, gold, and colors on paper (text)

Dimensions

20.9 × 13.6 × 3.1 cm (8 1/4 × 5 3/8 × 1 1/4 in.)
Text area: 15.5 × 9.6 cm (6 1/8 × 3 3/4 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• inscription: The front and back covers carry an Arabic poem. A date on the back reads:
  
  حرره فی ۱۲۲۷
  
  Penned in the year 1812-13
  
  Front cover:
  
  لك الحمد يا ذا الجود و المجد والعلی
  تباركت تعطي من تشاء و تمنع
  
  إلهي وخلاقي وحرزي و موئلي
  إليك لدى الإعسار و اليسر أفزع
  
  إلهي لئن أعطيت نفسي سؤلها
  فها أنا في أرض الندامة أرتع
  
  إلهي لئن جلت وجمَّت خطيئتي
  فعفوك عن ذنبي أجل وأوسع
  
  إلهي لئن عذبتني ألف حجة
  فحبل رجائي منك لا يتقطّع
  
  
  Back cover:
  
  إلهي لئن کرامتنی طرد..
  …
  
  إلهي أذقني طعم عفوك يوم لا
  بنون ولا مال هنالك ينفع
  
  إلهي…
  خایفا لک الهی اخشع
  
  الهی کنت صانعا
  ....صنیع
  
  إلهي لئن فرَّطت في طلب التقي
  فهاأنا إثر العفو أقفو و أتبع
  
  
  قال علی ابن ابی طالب علیه السلام المر
  
  و عنه علیه السلام من عرف نفسه فقد عرف ربه
  حرره فی ۱۲۲۷

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

2014.400

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Description

The Qur'an manuscript opens with double illuminated text pages of sura 1 and beginning of sura 2. The remaining text is written in black ink in naskh script,15 lines to a page. Sura headings are written in gold on red ground. The colophon at the end of the Qur'an gives the names of the scribe, Hasan al-Khwansari who finished copying it in Rabi I 1209 H (October 1794) for Hajj Muhammad Rafi' Khalaf. The lacquer binding on the outside is arranged with a central medallion and pendants and four corner pieces. There are further cartouches with inscriptions in the framing border. The inner covers are decorated with floral arabesques on red ground. The cover bears the date 1227 H (1812-13).

Publication History

• Massumeh Farhad and Mary McWilliams, ed., A Collector’s Passion: Ezzat-Malek Soudavar and Persian Lacquer, Harvard Art Museums and Freer/Sackler Galleries, Smithsonian Institution (Cambridge, MA/Washington, D.C., 2017), p. 38, ill.; pp. 40, 42-43, figs. 6-7; p. 96, cat. 10
• Katherine Eremin and Claire Grech, Materials and Techniques of Persian Laquerwork, 2017, Figure 6, Pages 42-43; Figure 7, Pages 42-43

Exhibition History

• 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/17/2017 - 01/07/2018

Verification Level