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.