A LOOSE KUFIC QUR'AN FOLIO IN VERTICAL FORMAT
Near East or North Africa, first half 10th century

Sura Ash-Shu‘ara (26), vv. 221 - 227, Arabic manuscript on vellum, 10ll. of elegant sepia ink Kufic script to the vertical page, vocalisation and diacritics in brown, red, and greenish blue, brown-outlined gold khams and hizb markers, mounted on polychrome marbled paper, glazed and framed, the folio 18.4cm x 14cm, 25.4cm x 20.3cm including the frame.

Kufic Qur'an folios of the Abbasid period in vertical format are rather rare. Scholars have usually attributed this change in orientation to a later phase of the Kufic tradition, usually dating to the first half of the 10th century and suiting the development and consolidation of hybrid scripts and new calligraphic styles like Eastern Kufic. The number of lines, characteristic script style, use of polychrome diacritics, and size of the present lot match another Kufic folio in vertical format in the Dar el-Nimer collection (inv. no. RNQ 1358) in Beirut (Alain F. George, Midad: The Public and Intimate Lives of Arabic Calligraphy, 2017, pp. 24 - 25, cat. 2). Seen side by side, the two folios look identical, leading to wonder whether they could be from the same manuscript.

Following Déroche's categorisation, both folios present a writing style close to Kufic D.I with some elements of D.II and D.III. They also share the presence of gold Kufic ha' marking every fifth verse; a thorough use of diacritical marks to distinguish letters of the same shape; and extensive red vocalisation for short vowels, indicative of increased attention and stress to detailed Arabic orthography.

Two other Kufic Qur'an folios in vertical format attributed to the early 10th century were sold at Christie's London, 23 October 2007, lot 10, and 10 October 2013, lot 56.