BEAUTIFUL OTTOMAN KORAN, SIGNED AND DATED. BY MUHAMMAD SALIH - Lot 20

BEAUTIFUL OTTOMAN KORAN, SIGNED AND DATED. BY MUHAMMAD SALIH IBN 'UMAR, JUMÂDÂ II 1271 H./ FEBRUARY 1854. Ink, pigments and gold on western paper, 15 lines of Qur'anic text per page written in black ink in fine naskh, sura titles in rayhani, in reserve, in a cartouche with gold background and illuminated with pink bouquets. Several marginal medallions and inscriptions in red ink in the margin, indicating the subdivision of the Qur'anic text. Verses separated by gold rosettes punctuated in blue. Double frontispiece entirely illuminated in gold and polychrome. Last two pages inscribed in illuminated medallions, one giving a colophon detailing the calligrapher's biography and dated. It states that calligrapher Muhammad Salih ibn 'Umar was born in Kumuljunah (Gümülcine, Komotini in northeastern Greece), that he resided at the Mulazimlar madrasa, near Hammam Sulaymaniya in Qustantiniyah (Istanbul). He also states that he was a pupil of Amin al-Bahjat (Behcet). The lower part of the margins of the last two pages missing, the upper outer corner of the left-hand page of the frontispiece, cut. In a brown leather binding with stamped and gilt decoration, the inside of the boards covered with red, white and blue marbled paper.17.5 x 12 cm; Text area: 10.2 x 6 cm. A similar Qur'an, copied by the same calligrapher a year earlier than ours, is preserved at the Walters Art Museum in the USA (W.743). In it, the scribe indicates that he was born in Kumuljunah (in north-eastern Greece) and that he lived in Madrasat Mulazimlar, near Hammam Sulaymaniyah, in al-Qustantiniyah.