PROBABLY KAIROUAN, TUNISIA, FIRST HALF 10TH CENTURY

Leaves from this Qur'an are in the Al-Sabah collection (M. Jenkins (ed.), Islamic Art in the Kuwait National Museum, London, 1983, p.19) and in the Nasser D. Khalili Collection (François Déroche, The Abbasid Tradition, London, 1992, p.111). Déroche notes that the manuscript from which the folio comes is among the very few early Qur'ans written with three lines to the page, and that these were evidently sought after and very expensive since considerably more parchment and time was needed for their manufacture (Déroche, op.cit.,p.109). Further folios and sections from this manuscript have sold in these Rooms. See for example 15 October 2002, lot 7, 17 April 2007, lot 10, 8 April 2008, lot 19, 7 October 2008, lot 1 and most recently 6 October 2011, lot 38.