Page 39 - 2021 April 1, ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND Indian Worlds Including Oriental Rugs, Christie's London

secluded himself in a minaret whilst doing so. A miniature from the treatise
on calligraphers by Qadi Ahmad depicts this curious activity (illustrated in
Y.H.Safadi, Islamic Calligraphy, London, 1978, p.18).
Our manuscript was later illuminated in Safavid Iran, circa 1600. The
quality of the illumination and binding, indicate that it was a prized object,
probably having been considered the work of the master Yaqut throughout
its ownership. Manuscripts executed by Yaqut, especially his Qur'ans were
hugely sought after and as a result copied by his followers in homage to
the great artist. These men hoped to perfect their hands by emulating the
master who today is considered one of the most accomplished calligraphers
of the Islamic world.
One fairly common feature of Yaqut Qur'ans, both those by him and the
ones which were copied from his work is that they have often been re-
margined and re-illuminated, as is the case with the present Qur'an. Shah
Tahmasp reworked the illumination of a Qur'an manuscript endowed to
the dynastic shrine at Ardabil, and Sultan Suleyman and his vizier Rüstam
Pasha commissioned the refurbishment of a number of Yaqut manuscripts
including one in the Topkapi (Lings and Safadi, The Qur'an, no.47, p.247 and
Esin Atil, The Age of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, exhibition catalogue,
Washington D.C., 1987, no.13, p.54). Another Qur’an which names Yaqut al-
Musta'simi in the colophon sold in these Rooms, 9 October 2014, lot 14.