coloured trefoils

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Decorative elements in West African Qur’an manuscripts follow North African and Maghribi prototypes from the ninth century onwards (p. 294).

Evidence

"These features include the rectangular and/or rounded decorations of the first chapter of the Qur’an and at the beginning of the second chapter, coloured trefoils for verse separation, a triangle shaped sign used for every fifth verse and roundels for every tenth verse."

Remarks

Pigments were used for chapter decorations, verse separators (trefoils), and markers for every fifth and tenth verse (p. 294).