A LOOSE BIFOLIUM IN EARLY ‘NEW STYLE’ SCRIPT...
A LOOSE BIFOLIUM IN EARLY ‘NEW STYLE’ SCRIPT
Near East or Mediterranean region, 10th century
Sura 30 (Al-Rum / Romans) vv. 21- 41, Sura 31 (Al-Luqman), v. 22 to Sura 32 (Al-Sajdah / the Prostration), v. 9, Arabic manuscript on vellum, 15ll. of fine sepia ink ‘New Style’ script per page, sura heading in red ink, tenth verse markers in the form of three sepia roundels arranged in a pyramid and highlighted in red ink, vocalisation marks in red, some letter stretching, 17.2cm x 19.3 cm.
This leaf is an early Quranic example of the so-called ‘New Style’ script that began to displace traditional ‘Abbasid kufic scripts in the 10th century. Many of the letter forms have already begun to take on features of the New Style, such as the closed triangular shape of the medial form of the letter ‘ayn; the slight wave to some of the alif and lam letters; the rightward inclination of the upper shaft of the letter ta/zha; and the deep curve of the letter nun. However, the experimentation with these forms is inconsistent and tentative suggesting an early stage in this development. This can be seen by comparing the leaf to a folio also on parchment and of a smaller horizontal format, on which these features are more pronounced, in the Nasser D Khalili Collection (see F. Déroche, The Abbasid Tradition: Qur’ans of the 8th to the 10th centuries, London, 1992, cat. no. 76, p. 140).
Altogether the present leaf does not use the same contrast of thick and thin ligatures on more developed New Style scripts and retains something of the spirit of kufic leaves in the style called Group D by François Déroche, in which the thickness of the letter forms are more even. Some of the initial alifs also retain the straight shape with an upward curve at the base associated with this style (see ibid., nos. 55 & 68). Qur’ans in early forms of the New Style script also retained the horizontal format of kufic Qur’ans, and like them, were written on parchment. As the 10th century progressed, Qur’ans in vertical format became more common, and by the 11th century, paper had become the standard material (see Marcus Fraser and Will Kwiatkowski, Ink and Gold: Islamic Calligraphy, London, 2006, p. 10).
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A LOOSE BIFOLIUM IN EARLY ‘NEW STYLE’ SCRIPT
Near East or Mediterranean region, 10th century
Sura 30 (Al-Rum / Romans) vv. 21- 41, Sura 31 (Al-Luqman), v. 22 to Sura 32 (Al-Sajdah / the Prostration), v. 9, Arabic manuscript on vellum, 15ll. of fine sepia ink ‘New Style’ script per page, sura heading in red ink, tenth verse markers in the form of three sepia roundels arranged in a pyramid and highlighted in red ink, vocalisation marks in red, some letter stretching, 17.2cm x 19.3 cm.
This leaf is an early Quranic example of the so-called ‘New Style’ script that began to displace traditional ‘Abbasid kufic scripts in the 10th century. Many of the letter forms have already begun to take on features of the New Style, such as the closed triangular shape of the medial form of the letter ‘ayn; the slight wave to some of the alif and lam letters; the rightward inclination of the upper shaft of the letter ta/zha; and the deep curve of the letter nun. However, the experimentation with these forms is inconsistent and tentative suggesting an early stage in this development. This can be seen by comparing the leaf to a folio also on parchment and of a smaller horizontal format, on which these features are more pronounced, in the Nasser D Khalili Collection (see F. Déroche, The Abbasid Tradition: Qur’ans of the 8th to the 10th centuries, London, 1992, cat. no. 76, p. 140).
Altogether the present leaf does not use the same contrast of thick and thin ligatures on more developed New Style scripts and retains something of the spirit of kufic leaves in the style called Group D by François Déroche, in which the thickness of the letter forms are more even. Some of the initial alifs also retain the straight shape with an upward curve at the base associated with this style (see ibid., nos. 55 & 68). Qur’ans in early forms of the New Style script also retained the horizontal format of kufic Qur’ans, and like them, were written on parchment. As the 10th century progressed, Qur’ans in vertical format became more common, and by the 11th century, paper had become the standard material (see Marcus Fraser and Will Kwiatkowski, Ink and Gold: Islamic Calligraphy, London, 2006, p. 10).
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