Bookbinding for a Qur'an (1460–1500): Art, History and Details

Bookbinding for a Qur'an (1460–1500) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Islamic book covers generally have a triangular flap attached to the rear cover of the binding which is tucked under the front cover to protect the outside edge of the pages. The outer covers of this particularly elaborate example feature panels with Qur'anic inscriptions, interlace patterns, and a central medallion filled with floral and arabesque designs. The inner covers offer a superb example of leather openwork, a leather technique that originated in northeastern Iran in the 1400s.

Object facts

• Title: Bookbinding for a Qur'an
• Date: 1460–1500
• Culture: Turkey, Istanbul, Ottoman period, 15th century
• Type: Book Binding
• Technique: leather over paper pasteboards; outer cover tooled, blue paint; inner covers openwork designs over colored papers
• Dimensions: Overall: 36 x 81.6 cm (14 3/16 x 32 1/8 in.)
• Collection: Islamic Art
• Department: Islamic Art
• Accession number: 1944.495

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Islamic Art: Selected Examples from the Loan Exhibition of Islamic Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1944.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.