Bactrian Manuscript Fragment of a Letter

6TH-7TH CENTURY AD

6 in. (5.57 grams, 15.5 cm).

A near-complete fragment of a letter in Avestan on leather, recto bearing eight lines of cursive script, faded but largely undamaged; verso bearing traces of at least two lines of text; irregular in shape.

Provenance

Collection of Bruce Ferrini, USA.
Central London gallery, acquired c.1994.
Property of a UK collector.

For UK buyers only, this item is not exportable from the UK.

Published

Sims-Williams, N., Bactrian Documents from Northern Afghanistan II: Letters and Buddhist Texts (Studies in the Khalili Collections Volume III), London: The Nour Foundation, 2012, pp.24, 106-107, and Bactrian Documents III: pl.169b, 170a.

CONDITION

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LOT 1351