become friends with Him

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Allah is good, but man could be unjust to himself




Qur’an Leaf
$4,894,000 (£2,484,500)

Christie’s London, April 8

Estimate: $200,000–$300,000 (£100,000–£150,000)

7th-Century leaf on vellum from a Qur’an manuscript.
On April 8, in a major sale of Islamic works of art at Christie’s London, a 7th-century parchment leaf bearing a fragment of the Qur’an sold for $4,894,280 (£2,484,500), or 20 times its estimate. The sale set an auction record for any Islamic manuscript.

High prices have been paid in the past for illustrated and highly decorative Eastern manuscripts—for groups or even individual leaves from the great Persian epic, the Shahnama, and for purely calligraphic manuscripts of the Qur’an. In very recent times, however, there has been a marked increase in prices for very early, often single leaf specimens of Islamic calligraphy. William Robinson, head of Christie’s Islamic department in London feels that the market for calligraphy “has become more mature and knowledgeable,” but it should also be noted that those who compete at the very highest levels for the Islamic works of art appear free of any financial restraint, and prices frequently soar beyond even the most bullish estimates. In recent years the Al Thani family in Qatar, the oil-rich Arab emirate with the world’s highest GDP per capita, have been major players in this market.

Almost certainly written in Madina in the second half of the 1st century hijira (7th century AD), the fragment shown here, in hijazi script, could be part of the codices of Uthman, the first officially written and authorized copies of the Holy Book; it may even have been copied by one of the companions of the Prophet. As such, it would be seen as a relic of the utmost religious and artistic significance. That the leaf was a palimpsest added to its interest. Parchment was valuable and regularly re-used, but after the Uthmanic codices had been ratified, no such changes to the holy text were permitted.
http://www.finebooksmagazine.com/issue/200903/top_auction_sales-1.phtml

Blog Archive

Promote Your Blog
IslamTopList.com
Best Muslim Sites
WORLD TOP BLOGS - Top Blog Directory | Submit URL | Add URL
Islamic Sites
Best Muslim Sites
Top Muslim Blogs