Juz' 30 of a Mamluk Qur'an

Object Information

Illuminator and production place:: Abu Bakr, known as Sandal (attributed to)
Cairo

Description:: Partial copy of Juz' 30 of a Mamluk Qur'an. This Qur'an is written out in tumar script, as opposed to the more fashionable Mamluk scripts thuluth or muhaqqaq. The calligrapher has been identified as Ibn al-Wahid (d. 1311), a renowned practitioner born in Damascus in 1249, who studied under Yaqut al-Musta`simi (d. 1298) in Baghdad and settled in Cairo. Together with the master-illuminator Sandal, Ibn al-Wahid worked on a monumental Qur'an project (today in the British Library) for the Mamluk Sultan Baybars in 1306, and they may also have worked together on this manuscript. Much is recorded of Ibn al-Wahid's biography (and personality), including that he worked in Sultan Baybars' chancery, where the secretary complained of his negligence. However he was greatly admired for his calligraphic skill by the forgiving Baybars. The unusual use here of tumar (normally a chancery script) may further support the manuscript's attribution to Ibn al-Wahid. Codex, ink, colours and gold on paper, 116 folios, Arabic text in tumar script with thuluth script in gold for sura headings, with marginal motifs throughout, partial copy of Juz' 30 of the Qur'an (S78:38-104:6), unsigned calligraphy attributed Muhammad ibn al-Wahid (d. 1311), illumination attributed Sandal, Cairo, Egypt, c. 1306-1311. Other known juz' volumes from this Qur'an: Berlin Ms KB 31.559, Boston MFA 26.11, and CB Is 1437A, 1437B, 1440.

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