1774
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.
11 x 7 cm (4 5/16 x 2 3/4 in.) Text area: 9.4 x 5.5 cm.
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.
Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
18th and 19th centuriesPersianInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
17th-18th centuryPersianInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
17th-18th centuryPersianWatercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer over metallic layer on pasteboard (covers) Ink, gold, and colors on paper (text)
18th and 19th centuriesPersianText, ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
16th-18th centuryPersianInk, colors, and gold on paper
18th centuryPersianInk, colors, and gold on paper
18th centuryPersianCalligraphy; ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
18th centuryPersianWatercolor, gold-colored pigments, copper particles, and lacquer over brass layer on pasteboard (covers) Ink, gold, and colors on paper (text)
18th centuryPersianInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
18th centuryPersianInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
18th centuryPersianInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
18th centuryPersian