Islamic Works of Art

There will be a new slant to this month’s Islamic week of sales in London. In a move presumably aimed to tap into new areas of the lucrative Middle Eastern market, Sotheby’s will inaugurate a sale of Modern and contemporary Arab Iranian Art. The sale will take place on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 24, immediately after their traditional Islamic works of art sale.

Bonhams have joined the push for Middle Eastern business by announcing the opening of a sales office in Dubai with a first auction scheduled for early November.

One of the highlights of the recent Islamic sale series in London was this 2ft 4in (74cm) high, mid-19th century signed white marble bust of Maharajah Duleep Singh by John Gibson RA.

As ATG went to press, the best-selling work of art in last week’s series of Islamic sales in London was this impressive 16in (40cm) diameter blue and white Iznik pottery dish, right, offered at Christie’s on April 4.

THE remarkable sums paid in London for high quality Islamic works of art arrived in the provinces in June.

Islamic works of art have not just been wowing collectors in the auction rooms, the museum- and exhibition-going public have also plainly found it a big and topical attraction.

LONDON'S twice-yearly series of Islamic sales can usually be relied upon to produce some dramatic results as the deep-pocketed collectors that dominate this market battle to secure their chosen prizes. The latest Islamic series, featuring sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Bonhams, was no exception, with some huge prices generated at all three houses for tiles, Isnik pottery, daggers and jewelled objects.

ISLAMIC ART: A MAJOR donation hase been given to the Victoria and Albert Museum, to enable it to completely refurbish its Islamic Gallery, home to the famous Ardabil carpet and many other treasures from the Middle East.

FOR more than one reason, one might have expected the latest series of Islamic works of art sales in London to be a downbeat affair. Added to the prevailing economic gloom, this could surely be a sector of the market where the war in Iraq and its aftermath would have a depressive effect on prices.

THE war in Iraq does not appear to have had any obvious effect on the latest series of lslamic sales, held in London last week. There was still an international turnout for the three main auctions of Islamic works of art and, in a field usually characterised by selective buying, the selling rates were not especially different, with a take-up in lot terms ranging from just over half the content at Bonhams and Christie’s King Street to just over two thirds at Sotheby’s.

This unusual looking piece from Ottoman Turkey, pictured right, provided one of the highlights of Bonhams’ Islamic sale on April 24 when it sold for £40,000.

Glass from Islamic Lands by Stefano Carboni, published by Thames & Hudson in association with The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait National Museum. ISBN 0500976066. £40 pb

Even without the worldwide crises of the last two months, the market for Islamic works of art has always been volatile, subject to price polarisation and a degree of selectiveness.

An 8th/9th century Syrian alabaster column capital provided the highest price for an object in London's spring Islamic series of sales.