Page 245 - Ming_China_Courts_and_Contacts_1400_1450 Craig lunas

exhibition catalogues. Although various aspects of this Notes
25
manuscript deserve a more detailed study, the remarks here 1 Masuya 2002.
will focus on its unusual paper and the striking parallels 2 Brend 2010, 18–19, pl. 11.
between the decorative repertoire of this Qur’an’s opening 3 Manz 1989, 14, 17, 57.
4 Bailey 1992, 12.
illumination and that in a copy of Firdawsi’s Shahnama, now 5 Watt 2002, 63–73; Golombek and Wilber 1988, vol. 1, 34–43.
at the Royal Asiatic Society in London where it is known as 6 Golombek and Wilber 1988, cat. nos 12–14, pls 20–6.
Ms 239. Internal documentation in this book Ms. 239 7 Golombek and Wilber 1988, cat. no. 17, pls 30–4.
demonstrates that it was produced for a Timurid Prince, 8 Golombek and Wilber 1988, cat nos 214, 220–1, pls 415–26, 434–45.
9 Golombek 1996, 124, 129.
Muhammad Juki b. Shah Rukh. His name and titles are 10 Barthold 1963, 178.
included in dragon-embellished banners depicted in some of 11 Barthold 1963, 100–5; Blair 2006, Grabar 1957, 347, 553–5.
26
the paintings. Although manuscript illumination in 12 Clunas and Harrison-Hall 2014, 263, fig. 222.
15th-century Timurid manuscripts is highly conventional, 13 Blair 2000, 29–31; Lentz and Lowry 1989, 144, 161, figs 46, 57;
Komaroff 1992.
the Detroit Qur’an and the Shahnama in the Royal Asiatic 14 See Wright 2013.
Society share idiosyncratic features in the design of their 15 Soucek 1996, 84–5.
golden borders, the tonality of their colours and the 16 Clunas and Harrison-Hall 2014, 72, fig. 54.
execution of their intricate frames which divide the surface 17 Masuya 2002.
of the page into discrete compartments (Pls 26.9–10). 18 Clunas and Harrison-Hall 2014, fig. 54, 72.
19 Bailey 1996, 10.
These similarities suggest that both manuscripts were 20 Bailey 1996.
produced in close proximity to each other in both time and 21 Now in the Bodleian Library where it has the shelfmark of Ouseley
space. The Shahnama copy is thought to date to the 1440s and Add. 176. See Brend and Melville 2010, 118–20.
to have been made in Herat so the same provenance can 22 Brend 2010, 28, pl. 20.
23 Stchoukine 1954, no. 27, p. 46; Robinson 1954, 105.
thus be suggested for the Detroit Qur’an. Another distinctive 24 Blair 2000.
feature of Muhammad Juki’s Shahnama is that it depicts one 25 Lentz and Lowry 1989, 78–9, 332.
of its heroes, Gushtasp, in a fashion analogous to the 26 Brend 2010, 116–17.
painting of Iskandar Sultan discussed earlier in this chapter. 27 Brend 2010, 106–7.
He wears a golden crown and the shoulders of his garment
are embroidered with golden dragons (Pls 26.11–12). The
question of whether this princely figure should be
interpreted as a depiction of Shah Rukh’s son Muhammad
Juki has been raised, but so far no conclusive answer had
27
been provided.
Aside from its highly decorated opening pages, the visual
drama of the Detroit Qur’an is created by the unusual paper
on which it is copied. Ten different colours of heavy paper
decorated on one side with gold are used for the volume’s
individual gatherings. In one case, the Qur’an’s text has
been written over an upside-down landscape vignette that
shows a grape vine rooted in a golden hillside. The plant’s
branches, leaves, tendrils and grape clusters are visible
between the words of Quran 16: 119–28.
This brief survey of Ming-Timurid artistic relations
between 1400 and 1450 demonstrates that Timur’s
descendants included Chinese textiles, ceramics and paper
in their courtly life and ceremonies. Both the quality of these
objects or materials and their distant origin must have
enhanced their value to the rulers in the various centres of
Timurid power. This general conclusion does not exclude
the possibility, however, that individual Timurid rulers
placed more particular and personal interpretations on their
ownership of such precious goods.

Looking East, Looking West: The Artistic Connections of Ming China and Timurid Iran | 235