- 38
Ashkharhabar saghmosaran, the Psalter, in Armenian, decorated manuscript on paper [Armenia, late fifteenth or early sixteenth century]
Estimate
6,000 - 8,000 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- Paper and Ivory
255 leaves (including endleaf at back), 100mm. by 70mm., last leaf wanting, else complete, collation: i10, ii-xxi12, xxii5 (ii loose in volume), single column, 17 lines in a tiny and precise bolorgir hand, written space 64mm. by 43mm., titles and rubrics in red in an even smaller hand, small initials in red and mallard blue-green, larger initials formed of coloured birds often accompanied by other larger birds entwined in foliate sprays or floral cartouches in margin, one full-page miniature of David seated and playing a harp with a curved neck, facing the opening of the text with a decorated headband and a floral design filling the whole vertical border, some small stains, first 2 leaves smudged (with slight damage to miniature and frontispiece), else good condition, contemporary flap binding of dark leather over wooden boards, flower heads within chevrons tooled on back board, flower heads and circles joined by lines tooled on flap, lined with blue-green cloth, small carved ivory of Crucifixion (perhaps later) nailed to front board, front board splitting away at spine and now attached by endbands, small loss to leather of spine at head, flap also separating from volume
Catalogue Note
This tiny and exquisite pocket Psalter was clearly intended for private devotional use. It shares the use of a carved ivory panel on its binding with lot 41 and most probably is from the same old Armenian collection.