Rare Quran Pages to Be Sold at Christie’s Auction

TEHRAN (IQNA) – Islamic art collectors are being offered an unusual opportunity to bid for two rare pages from the only two known Kufic Quran copies, says British auction house Christie’s.

The distinctive artefacts feature gold calligraphy on blue vellum and were "undertaken in the 9th century, most probably in Tunisia for a patron of considerable wealth and ambition”, said the firm which will put the pieces up for bidding on Thursday in London.

Christie’s estimated the value of the item anywhere from £100,000 to £150,000.

Sara Plumbly, head of the Islamic Department at Christie’s, said that the pieces "are from some of the earliest Qurans — from some of the most important private manuscripts”, GNews reported.

According to research, the inventory of the library of the Great Mosque of Qairawan mentions manuscripts copied in gold on black-blue-dyed vellum. It is not totally clear if the inventory mentions one or two examples as it suffered some damage.

"In most probability, there are mentions of two manuscripts, of which one is described as in seven sections, in the large format, written in gold, in Kufic script, on blue-black vellum. This description sounds temptingly close to the pages which will be offered for auction (by the) end of April.”

Over the course of the last century, the provenance of this now iconic manuscript has been much debated, said the firm.

"The use of the indigo blue-dyed vellum was intended to mimic the purple-stained luxury of Imperial Byzantine manuscripts, whilst the dyeing of vellum was probably current in the Islamic period in the 9th and 10th century (when) there was no longer any direct access to the murex dye needed to produce the purple color. As a result, Indigo imported from India was substituted.”