A PINK QURAN FOLIO, ANDALUSIA, 13TH CENTURY, SPAIN ... Lot 19

A PINK QURAN FOLIO, ANDALUSIA, 13TH CENTURY, SPAIN Qur’an XL sura al-Mu’min v.24(part), v.25, v.26(part) Arabic manuscript on dyed paper, 5ll. of bold sepia maghrib script, diacritics in gold outlined in black, shaddah and sukun in blue, gold dots correspond hamza al-kat’, green dots correspond hamza al-wasl, gold and black roundel verse marker, recto with illuminated marginal gold tear drop marking ‘hams’, outlined with blue, upper margin with punched inventory inscription, Folio 30,4 x 23,3 cm The attribution of these striking pink folios to Spain is based primarily on the use of paper. In the Maghreb, parchment remained in frequent use for the writing of Qur'ans into the 19th century. Spain, however, had been manufacturing and using high quality paper for manuscripts of all kinds for some time. Manuscripts like this one, on pink dyed paper are believed to have been produced in Jativa, near Valencia, the site of the earliest documented paper mill in Spain (Marcus Fraser and William Kwiatkowski, Ink and Gold: Islamic Calligraphy, Berlin and London, 2006, p.64). Privately Entered, Italian Collection