Page 195 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

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in Istanbul. Since his evidence for this assertion as well as the date 911 (1505-1506). The chest is
KORAN FRAGMENT is not known, the Koran may have left the founda- signed by Ahmad b. Hasan al-Kdlibi ("the inlayer
(Sura xviu, 107, to Sura xx, 12) tion to which it was originally endowed some of firearm stocks"). The hinged lid, which is sur-
time before the mid-eighteenth century, when mounted by a twelve-sided pyramid and a carved
late i$th century Mahmud i founded the library at Ayasofya. and turned ebony and ivory finial, is adorned
Turkish, Ottoman J.M.R. with ivory panels carved with Koranic inscriptions
written in fine muhaqqaq or rayhan script, seven and arabesques.
lines to the page, with elaborate cloud contours The interior is more sparely decorated with
(abrij and interlinear Persian translation in small panels of minute inlay in fine woods, green-
small naskhi 83 stained ivory, and gilt brass. The three interior
7
2
height 36.3 (i4 /4); width 27.5 (io /s) compartments were to hold the parts of a thirty-
references: Martin 1912, 102; Lisbon 1963, no. 115; KORAN CHEST OF BAYAZID n
Arberry 1967, 57, no. 185; London 1976, no. 578 part Koran, a common format for mausolea, where
a-b; James 1980, no. 71; James 1981, no. 32 1505-1506 endowment deeds frequently stipulate that one
Turkish, Ottoman part of the Koran should be read each day in
The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, walnut veneered with ebony, inlaid with ivory memory of the founder. Although the Koran that
MS 14.92, fols. ib-2a height 82 (32 /4J; diameter 56 (22) the box once contained has not been identified,
2
inscribed: (on body) Koran n, 255, the Ayat al-Kursi the dimensions are oblong, indicating that it
The first opening, folios ib-2a, has fine panels of or Verse of the Throne; LIX, 22-24; ( on kd) Koran must date from the early centuries of Islam, when
illumination above and below the text with mar- XLVIII, 28-29; in, 18-19; and xxvn, 30 Merig such formats were standard. Such Korans, often
Migeon
references:
1903; Merit; 1957, 7-76;
ginal hasps. The verse counts and Sura-headings, 1963, 764-786; Istanbul 1983, no. £19; Frankfurt- believed to be written by the early Caliphs, were
which also include appropriate verses from other am-Main 1985, no. 8/2 much treasured by the Ottoman Sultans. In fact,
Suras, are in spidery white, heavily stylized the registers of palace expenses and disbursements
Kufic on a dense scroll of split palmettes. These Turk ve Islam Eserleri Muzesi, Istanbul for the reign of Bayazid n contain numerous
palmettes are rendered in vividly contrasting entries of rewards to those who had given early
colors with finely serrated fronds. The layout, It was doubtless in connection with the inaugu- Korans for the inauguration of his mosque
owing much to Timurid prototypes, is somewhat ration in 1505 of the mosque of Bayazid n (Meric, 1957).
atypical of late fifteenth-century Ottoman illumi- (r. 1481-1512) that this superb chest was created. As the inscription indicates, the craftsman's
nation; but the motifs and their treatment are It is one of the finest extant examples of Ottoman specialty was the inlaying of firearm stocks (com-
from the period of Bayazid n (r. 1481-1512). The woodwork. The hexagonal body is decorated pare Merig 1963), an interesting indication of
binding is modern. with oblong panels of ivory carved with Koranic craft specialization during the reign of Bayazid n.
Another fragment from the same Koran is in inscriptions in fine thuluth on a deep blue This type of fine Ottoman woodwork has many
Lisbon in the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. ground. The triangular ivory corner pieces are features in common with the products of the con-
According to Frederic Martin, the Koran was orig- embellished with carved arabesques and include temporary Embriachi workshops in Northern Italy
inally in the library of the mosque of Ayasofya verses in Ottoman Turkish in praise of Bayazid n, (compare Migeon 1903, pi. 8). J.M.R.

194 CIRCA 1492