Cover of a Qur’an

Dark brown leather outside; light brown leather inside; on pasteboard. Decoration: punched and chiselled gold relief, with touches of color in the floral patterns; gold tooling in the borders; cut gold filigree over blue paper. Inscriptions embossed; gold writing on the back hinge.

Historical period(s)
Safavid period, 16th century
Medium
Dark brown leather on pasteboard, gold tooling
Dimensions
H x W: 37.5 x 24.6 cm (14 3/4 x 9 11/16 in)
Geography
Iran
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1934.17
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Book
Type

Bookbinding

Keywords
flower, Iran, Islam, Qur'an, Safavid period (1501 - 1722)
Provenance

To 1934
Dr. Jacob Hirsch, New York to 1934. [1]

From 1934
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Dr. Jacob Hirsch, New York in 1934. [2]

Notes:

[1] Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record.

[2] See note 1.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Dr. Jacob Hirsch 1874?-1955

Description

Dark brown leather outside; light brown leather inside; on pasteboard. Decoration: punched and chiselled gold relief, with touches of color in the floral patterns; gold tooling in the borders; cut gold filigree over blue paper. Inscriptions embossed; gold writing on the back hinge.

Published References
  • Smithsonian Institution. Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, 1934. Washington, 1934-1935. opp. p. 26, pl. 1.
  • Smithsonian Institution. Report of the Secretary, 1934. Washington. pl. 1.
  • Fu Shen, Glenn D. Lowry, Ann Yonemura, Thomas Lawton. From Concept to Context: Approaches to Asian and Islamic Calligraphy. Exh. cat. Washington. cat. 47, pp. 104, 132-133.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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