Gilded Quran and Islamic Manuscripts Auctioned in London

London, September 16 (QNA) The Islamic and Indian Art Department at Sothebys Auction House, London announced the organization of an auction on the twenty-sixth of next month, to sell a gilded Quran, a number of rare Islamic manuscripts, royal art pieces, Indian miniatures, and heritage jewelry dating back to the eighth century AD.
The auction is organized within the activities of the exhibition "Arts of the Islamic World and India", which is organized by the House.
Benedict Carter, director of the Islamic and Indian Art Department at the House, said in a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), that "the gilded Qur'an was decorated by merging two degrees of gold on a light background that contrasts with a background of blue derived from the high-gloss lapis lazuli stone." .
Carter added, "This Qur'an, which is still in very good condition, embodies the pinnacle of the art of gilding the Qur'an and the Qur'an in the Safavid state.
He pointed out that the page of the Quran was part of one of the largest copies of the Quran written in Kufic script in the early eras of Islam. He pointed out that the simple decoration focused on the same script is a distinctive feature of the first period of the Kufic Qur'ans in the eighth century AD.
The decorated Quran dates back to the year 983 AH / 1575-1576 AD, and the auction house estimated the price of a copy of the Quran at about 400,000 to GBP 600,000. The auction also includes one page of a large-sized Quran written in Kufic script, believed to have been written in the year 750 AD in the Near East or North Africa, and the auction house estimated the value of the page at about 250 thousand to GBP 350 thousand .
Among the collection that will be auctioned is the manuscript of the Persian epic "Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp", which is a testament to the artistic skill, precision and beauty that characterized Persian art. The Shahnameh or "Book of Kings" covers literary texts comprising 50 thousand syllables written in the form of a Yazid rhymed text.
The pieces offered in the auction include pieces dating back to other eras in the Islamic world, as it is scheduled to display a piece of rock crystal glass dating back to the Fatimid era in Egypt and dating between the late tenth and early eleventh centuries, and is expected to be sold at a price ranging from GBP 40,000 to 60,000. (QNA)