QUR’AN SECTION IN ‘EASTERN’ KUFIC SCRIPT PERSIA, 11TH-12TH CENTURY 44 folios, comprising Sura II, al-Baqara, vv. 178-181, vv. 213-220, vv. 222-226, vv. 231-240, vv. 245-247, vv. 253-254, vv. 256-279, vv. 282-286; Sura III, Al ‘Imran, vv. 5-15, vv. 19-33, vv. 44-49, vv. 52-55, vv. 61-79, vv. 82-91, vv. 97-100, vv. 125-130, vv. 135-145, vv.173-178, vv. 183-189; Arabic manuscript on buff paper, with 7ll of black Eastern Kufic script with red diacritics, interlinear translations in Persian script, verses separated by gold and red dotted florets, further text divisions marked by gold and polychrome marginal medallions and further drop-shaped oblong cartouches (30.8 x 22 cm) Qty: (44) Provenance: Private collection of a notable Ottoman family in London. The collection is from a notable Ottoman land-owning family, that married over generations into the Sultans’ court. Some were judges, civil servants and vizirs in the Damascus vilayet, as well as members of parliament to the Sublime Porte. Note: The style of script of this Qur’an section epitomises the transitional period from the early kufic style into the more angular and more accentuated regional styles called ‘eastern’ and ‘western’. The crossed and perfectly symmetrical lam-alif is a characteristic of the eastern kufic. Another interesting feature of this Qur’an is the structure of the thick, buff paper, whose chain lines and laid lines are clearly visible. A single folio from the same Qur’an (Sura II, al-Baqara, v.146-150) previously in the collection of Adrienne Minassian, New York, 1955, was sold Sotheby’s, London, Stuart Cary Welch Collection Part II, 6 April 2011, lot 13.