Lot n° 184
Estimation :
2000 - 4000
EUR
"Ayat al-Kursi" - Lot 184
"Ayat al-Kursi"
A very long Qur'anic frieze, an Ottoman banner element woven from red and yellow silk, decorated with a calligraphic inscription in thuluth script, comprising two-thirds of the 'Throne Verse' (ayat al-kursi), Qur'an, Sura 2, verse 255, and ending with 'God has spoken the truth' (Sadaqa Allahu), inscribed in a half polylobate cartouche. (Condition: part of the entablature, beginning of the Throne Verse missing, many tears and very heavy wear and tear in places)
Ottoman Turkey, 19th century
Sun. 25.5 x 150 cm
Provenance: succession of Germaine de Peyerimhoff de Fontenelle, daughter of Pierre Azaria (1865-1953), then by direct descent to the present owner.
Pierre Azaria (1865-1953) was born in Cairo in the Armenian community of Egypt - the Azarian family westernized his name by deleting the final n - and studied at the Ecole Centrale de Paris. He became director of the Rouen Electricity Company and founded the Compagnie Générale d'Electricité (C.G.E.) in 1898. According to family tradition, Pierre Azaria also had a property in Smyrna, which he had to leave in 1915.
An Ottoman banner from the 17th century is kept in the Victor Hugo House Museum in Paris. See the fascicle of the 1997-1998 exhibition-dossier written by Sophie Makariou in 1997. A similar large calligraphic frieze dating from the 19th century is kept at the Topkapi Museum, Istanbul (Inv. No. 13/1649).
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