Single Folio from a Qur’an

Location: Middle East

Materials: ink, gold and watercolour on vellum

Dimensions: 11.2 x 20.3cm

Accession Number: KFQ 78

Other Notes:

The folio bears no text, for both sides are occupied by a panel of illumination characteristic of the Abassid period. Despite great skill, the illuminator has not been able to create a design that is symmetrical on the vertical axis. The central composition is not complete, as two elements have been left out, and the complex loop does not intersect in the middle adjacent to the inner margin. As often happens, the illumination is not set symmetrically in the center of the page: the upper and lower margins differ in size. On both pages, there is a large vignette filled with palmette motifs in the left-hand margin.

Bibliography:

F. Déroche, The Abbasid Tradition, Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, vol. I, London 1992, cat.67, pp.123–4.