Description:

AN ILLUMINATED LEAF FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF PRAYERS, TURKEY, OTTOMAN, 16TH CENTURY

Description:
An exquisitely illuminated folio from an Ottoman manuscript of prayers (du‘a), finely painted in gouache with gold on cream paper. The recto displays five to six lines of naskh script in black ink, elegantly spaced within cloud bands against a radiant gold ground. Text margins are delineated in red and gold rulings. Notably, this folio features a richly detailed miniature depicting the Prophet Ibrahim being hidden in a cave by his father Azar, as referenced in the Qisas al-Anbiya by al-Tha‘labi. Ibrahim’s figure is surrounded by divine flame (a motif denoting holiness), while other characters wear stylised turbans typical of late 16th-century Ottoman attire.

The surrounding landscape includes lush foliage, stylised trees, rocky outcroppings, and a centrally placed dark cave, dramatically contrasting the rest of the composition. This visual narrative is framed by Qur’anic text above and below, corresponding with the devotional and didactic nature of the manuscript.


Length x Width: 43 x 32 cm

Folio: 24 x 14.5 cm

ink on paper

gouache with gold on cream paper, 5 or 6 lines to the page written in fine naskh script within clouds against a gold ground, margins rules in gold and red, catchwords in black, laid down on card, sold with a leaf from a Persian manuscript, framed

Literature

Ex-collection Mr and Mrs Thomas Wolff, first half 20th century.

This painting come from a manuscript of Ottoman prayers. The stylistic features of the figures combined with scenes' composition and the format of the pages suggest a date of production in the second half of the sixteenth century, finding close comparables in Ottoman pious manuscripts dated between 1580 and 1600. The illustrations are identified as follows:


Ibrahim is hidden in a tunnel by his father Azer. Very little is known about this episode in Ibrahim’s early life. In the Qisas al-Anbiya compiled by Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tha’labi, it is narrated that Azar excavates a tunnel to hide Abrahim from the agents of Nimrud (Renards, 2008, p.16).

Comparative Examples:

  • A closely related Ottoman illustrated du‘a manuscript, dated circa 1585, sold at Sotheby’s, Arts of the Islamic World, 25 October 2017, Lot 48, for £87,500.

  • An illustrated Ottoman folio from a pious manuscript with similar figure style and gilded cloud bands sold at Christie’s, Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds, 31 March 2022, Lot 102, for £75,600.

  • Another leaf from a comparable 16th-century Ottoman manuscript showing prophetic stories sold at Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 28 April 2021, Lot 143, for £65,000.

Note:
This folio reflects the intense devotional and artistic fervour of the late 16th-century Ottoman court. Ottoman du‘amanuscripts from this era were often richly illuminated and illustrated to enhance their meditative and didactic roles. The depiction of Ibrahim’s concealment—a rare and intriguing episode—adds further narrative and iconographic interest, echoing a period when religious texts were visually amplified to deepen both aesthetic and spiritual resonance.

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May 6, 2025 1:00 PM BST
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