China.- Juz' 18 of a Qur'an, manuscript in Arabic on paper, 52 leaves, 5 lines of black Rayhani script to a page, within red rules, black diacritical marks, gold rosette verse markers, corrections in red, verse header in blue on gold, opening and final bifolios with ornamental border of gold and polychrome with modern tissue-guard, very occasional flaking to gold, a few marginal repairs, lower corners neatly silked or repaired throughout, some staining, soiling, ?original red leather binding with flap, blind-stamped in an ornate panelled design, rebacked and joint of flap renewed in modern red morocco, covers with a few small portions of wear, new endpapers, 4to (each leaf 252 x 180mm.), [China], [18th century].

⁂ This Juz' or section from a Chinese Qur'an was once part of a multi-volume set of 30 Juz', this a more typical form of production for a Chinese Qur'an than a single volume codex. The script is a variant of Muhaqqaq script, similar to Rayhani but more accurately characterised as Sini (Chinese) script, the angularity and extended brush-like forms of the characters recalling the brush strokes of Chinese calligraphy. The gold illumination of the opening bifolio further illustrates the synthesis of Chinese motifs, such as peony blooms, with the distinctive Islamic aesthetics of the Qur'an.