Binding of a Qur’an

Location: Iran

Materials: papier-mâché boards, painted and varnished

Dimensions: 41.4 x 25.5cm

Accession Number: QUR 356

Other Notes:

The Qur‘an manuscript to which this binding is attached was copied in 1264 AH (1847–8) AD by ‘Abd al-Ghafur ibn Habiballah al-Husayni for a patron called Yahya Khan, perhaps Yahya Khan Mu‘tamid al-Mulk.

The outer covers are decorated with a bold flower-and-bird design on a gold ground, within a narrow border of a repeating diaper design in gold on red. The doublures are dark-red, and each is painted in gold with a large iris plant.

Bibliography:

N.D. Khalili, B.W. Robinson & T. Stanley, Lacquer of the Islamic Lands, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, volume XXII, Part Two, London 1997, cat.376, pp.162–3.