MIDDLE EAST
A Handwritten Qur'an Sheet in Hijazi Script
2008 SOLD 480 K£ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
On October 8 in London, Sotheby's sells at lot 3 a sheet of the Qur'an dating from the first decades after the Hegira.
Sotheby's said that this document is in script of the Hijaz region of the Arabian Peninsula. This area includes the holy cities of Medina and Mecca.
The catalog, as always with Sotheby's, gives much information, including the reference of the sura, the dimensions of this vellum sheet: 37.5 x 27.5 cm, and the number of lines: 23 on recto and 21 on verso. The photo shows much damage in its lower side.
Sotheby's information reinforces the rarity of such an object by giving a short list of past sheets having been auctioned in recent years by its competitors.
So "invited" by Sotheby's, we will make a short visit in the archives of Christie's. Two different sheets of a same Qur'an, of same time and almost same size as that of Sotheby's but in much better condition, were sold in London several years apart. On 1 May 2001, Christie's sold the first one at 160 K£ including fees. On 8 April 2008, another sheet was estimated 100K£ ... and then sold £ 2.5 million including fees.
Sotheby's realized that the market had changed, or even that a new market has arisen for such early Islamic antiquities. This sheet is included in a selection of their highlights of future sales in Europe from September to December.
At 400 K£, the estimate of Sotheby's does not mean much because it is the first lot to appear since the surprise created by the sale of Christie's. What will the buyers decide for this new sheet, which unfortunately is in much poorer condition?
POST SALE COMMENT
This lot was certainly remarkable, but its poor condition has certainly played against it. In these circumstances, we can congratulate Sotheby's to have very well focused the price: 480 K £ including fees.
On October 8 in London, Sotheby's sells at lot 3 a sheet of the Qur'an dating from the first decades after the Hegira.
Sotheby's said that this document is in script of the Hijaz region of the Arabian Peninsula. This area includes the holy cities of Medina and Mecca.
The catalog, as always with Sotheby's, gives much information, including the reference of the sura, the dimensions of this vellum sheet: 37.5 x 27.5 cm, and the number of lines: 23 on recto and 21 on verso. The photo shows much damage in its lower side.
Sotheby's information reinforces the rarity of such an object by giving a short list of past sheets having been auctioned in recent years by its competitors.
So "invited" by Sotheby's, we will make a short visit in the archives of Christie's. Two different sheets of a same Qur'an, of same time and almost same size as that of Sotheby's but in much better condition, were sold in London several years apart. On 1 May 2001, Christie's sold the first one at 160 K£ including fees. On 8 April 2008, another sheet was estimated 100K£ ... and then sold £ 2.5 million including fees.
Sotheby's realized that the market had changed, or even that a new market has arisen for such early Islamic antiquities. This sheet is included in a selection of their highlights of future sales in Europe from September to December.
At 400 K£, the estimate of Sotheby's does not mean much because it is the first lot to appear since the surprise created by the sale of Christie's. What will the buyers decide for this new sheet, which unfortunately is in much poorer condition?
POST SALE COMMENT
This lot was certainly remarkable, but its poor condition has certainly played against it. In these circumstances, we can congratulate Sotheby's to have very well focused the price: 480 K £ including fees.
650 the Qur'an of Uthman
2008 SOLD for £ 2.5M including premium by Christie's
The witnesses to the revelations of Muhammad were disappearing, decimated by the wars. During the Caliphate of Abu Bakr, a complete written version of the Qur'an became essential. The work was managed by Zayd ibn Thabit who had been a scribe of the Prophet.
The risk of spreading dialect variants that will provoke sterile theological debates is too great. Caliph Uthman (Osman) commissioned the same expert to establish a canonical version of the Qur'an in a single Arabic dialect, henceforth prohibiting any modification of the text. The annalists do not mention this work which was carried out around 30 AH (around 650 CE).
On April 8, 2008, Christie's sold a Qur'an leaf 36 x 28 cm, lot 20, for £ 2.5M including premium, over a lower estimate of £ 100K. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
This double-sided manuscript folio is a palimpsest. The original text in Hijazi script was erased before the 9th century CE to reuse the vellum. The oldest text had left a corrosion in the vellum and it has reappeared over time.
It was of course sacrilege to erase a sacred text. One possible reason for this action was that the original manuscript was very early and did not fully meet Uthman's canon.
A leaf palimpsest from the same original codex was sold for £ 163K including premium by Christie's on May 1, 2001.
The risk of spreading dialect variants that will provoke sterile theological debates is too great. Caliph Uthman (Osman) commissioned the same expert to establish a canonical version of the Qur'an in a single Arabic dialect, henceforth prohibiting any modification of the text. The annalists do not mention this work which was carried out around 30 AH (around 650 CE).
On April 8, 2008, Christie's sold a Qur'an leaf 36 x 28 cm, lot 20, for £ 2.5M including premium, over a lower estimate of £ 100K. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
This double-sided manuscript folio is a palimpsest. The original text in Hijazi script was erased before the 9th century CE to reuse the vellum. The oldest text had left a corrosion in the vellum and it has reappeared over time.
It was of course sacrilege to erase a sacred text. One possible reason for this action was that the original manuscript was very early and did not fully meet Uthman's canon.
A leaf palimpsest from the same original codex was sold for £ 163K including premium by Christie's on May 1, 2001.
Persian Cosmography
2021 SOLD for £ 3.1M including premium
The city of Herat, nicknamed the Pearl of Khorasan, is prosperous and coveted. It was taken in 1175 CE by the Ghurids, Buddhists who converted to Islam. then entered the Khwarazm empire in 1214 before being destroyed by the Mongols in 1221.
It is an important cultural center. A traveler from the Ghurid era announces 359 colleges, 12,000 shops, 6,000 bathhouses, caravanserais, mills, a dervish convent, a Zoroastrian fire temple. The specialty of Herat at the same time is the work of bronze inlaid with precious metals. Islamism becomes preponderant with the construction of the great mosque in 1201.
On March 31 in London, Sotheby's sells a circular brass ritual basin, most likely made in Herat, lot 74 estimated £ 1M. It measures 50 cm in diameter with an everted scalloped rim 11.6 cm high. The interior is entirely decorated with silver inlays which have remained intact.
The concentric registers constitute a complete cosmography with Persian and Hindu influences without any Islamic element. Treasured for more than sixty years in a collection, it was unpublished but is decoded through its iconographic similarities with the Vaso Vescovali, a zodiacal tin bowl kept in the British Museum.
Saturn, the most distant planet from earth, sits in the center with a forbidding expression. It is surrounded by the circle of the four other planets plus Sun and Moon. Each of these seven allegories has several arms to display its attributes, in the Hindu tradition. Most of them brandish severed human heads. The figures are separated by a network of lines that looks like a weaving stitch.
The next circle is the star zodiac, in the usual denomination of the twelve signs, consisting of the day house and the night house of the five planets and one each for Sun and Moon. The next two circles are respectively made up of twelve pairs of fish and then crescent moons. The wall is illustrated with a frieze of waq-waq, the mythical Persian tree whose branches and fruits turn into human heads screaming "waq waq". The last circle is a frieze of heads and birds.
It is an important cultural center. A traveler from the Ghurid era announces 359 colleges, 12,000 shops, 6,000 bathhouses, caravanserais, mills, a dervish convent, a Zoroastrian fire temple. The specialty of Herat at the same time is the work of bronze inlaid with precious metals. Islamism becomes preponderant with the construction of the great mosque in 1201.
On March 31 in London, Sotheby's sells a circular brass ritual basin, most likely made in Herat, lot 74 estimated £ 1M. It measures 50 cm in diameter with an everted scalloped rim 11.6 cm high. The interior is entirely decorated with silver inlays which have remained intact.
The concentric registers constitute a complete cosmography with Persian and Hindu influences without any Islamic element. Treasured for more than sixty years in a collection, it was unpublished but is decoded through its iconographic similarities with the Vaso Vescovali, a zodiacal tin bowl kept in the British Museum.
Saturn, the most distant planet from earth, sits in the center with a forbidding expression. It is surrounded by the circle of the four other planets plus Sun and Moon. Each of these seven allegories has several arms to display its attributes, in the Hindu tradition. Most of them brandish severed human heads. The figures are separated by a network of lines that looks like a weaving stitch.
The next circle is the star zodiac, in the usual denomination of the twelve signs, consisting of the day house and the night house of the five planets and one each for Sun and Moon. The next two circles are respectively made up of twelve pairs of fish and then crescent moons. The wall is illustrated with a frieze of waq-waq, the mythical Persian tree whose branches and fruits turn into human heads screaming "waq waq". The last circle is a frieze of heads and birds.
#AuctionUpdate Written in the stars: This magnificent 12th-century silver-inlaid scalloped basin - adorned with astrological designs - soars to £3.1 million, after competition from 4 bidders #SothebysMiddleEast pic.twitter.com/sGfVIjgeuW
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) March 31, 2021
The Blue Qur'an
2015 SOLD for £ 365K including premium
The Blue Qur'an is the greatest masterpiece of Islamic calligraphy. It is made of stretched Kufic gold writing in strong linewidth on a vellum parchment dyed in indigo blue.
Its origin is not documented but its characteristics are unique. This is certainly the book identified in an inventory at the Great Mosque of Qairawan in 693AH (1294AD).
It originally contained about 600 pages of various sizes up to 31 x 41 cm. Many of them were scattered during the later Ottoman period and the last century. 67 remaining folios were transferred from Qairawan to Tunis in 1967.
The Blue Qur'an was probably executed in Andalusia or North Africa 1100 to 1000 years ago for a very powerful Islamic monarch who has not been identified. Its sumptuous indigo dye is considered as a successful attempt to surpass the luxury of Byzantine purple.
Single leaves of the Blue Koran appear fairly often at auction. One of them was sold by Sotheby's for £ 280K including premium on October 4, 2011. A better result announced in 2012 is no more confirmed on the website of the auction house.
A leaf 28 x 38 cm containing 15 lines of the surah al nisa' was sold for £ 240K including premium by Christie's on April 26, 2012. It is estimated £ 300K for sale by Sotheby's in London on April 22, lot 62.
Its origin is not documented but its characteristics are unique. This is certainly the book identified in an inventory at the Great Mosque of Qairawan in 693AH (1294AD).
It originally contained about 600 pages of various sizes up to 31 x 41 cm. Many of them were scattered during the later Ottoman period and the last century. 67 remaining folios were transferred from Qairawan to Tunis in 1967.
The Blue Qur'an was probably executed in Andalusia or North Africa 1100 to 1000 years ago for a very powerful Islamic monarch who has not been identified. Its sumptuous indigo dye is considered as a successful attempt to surpass the luxury of Byzantine purple.
Single leaves of the Blue Koran appear fairly often at auction. One of them was sold by Sotheby's for £ 280K including premium on October 4, 2011. A better result announced in 2012 is no more confirmed on the website of the auction house.
A leaf 28 x 38 cm containing 15 lines of the surah al nisa' was sold for £ 240K including premium by Christie's on April 26, 2012. It is estimated £ 300K for sale by Sotheby's in London on April 22, lot 62.
KHORASAN BEFORE THE MONGOL INVASION
2011 UNSOLD
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
A ewer made in Khorasan has survived up to our time in a remarkable state of preservation.
It is not surprising that this piece, shown in Sotheby's catalog, may seem strange: local art was stopped short bythe Mongol invasion.
This object in brass 38 cm high overall, dating to circa 1220 in our calendar, is a twelve-sided vertical pot topped with a high and narrow cylindrical neck, with spectacular spout and handle.
It is decorated with fine silver inlay on the themes of zodiac symbols, human heads, horsemen, animals and Kufic inscriptions.
This lot is estimated £ 2M, for sale by Sotheby's in London on October 4.
A ewer made in Khorasan has survived up to our time in a remarkable state of preservation.
It is not surprising that this piece, shown in Sotheby's catalog, may seem strange: local art was stopped short bythe Mongol invasion.
This object in brass 38 cm high overall, dating to circa 1220 in our calendar, is a twelve-sided vertical pot topped with a high and narrow cylindrical neck, with spectacular spout and handle.
It is decorated with fine silver inlay on the themes of zodiac symbols, human heads, horsemen, animals and Kufic inscriptions.
This lot is estimated £ 2M, for sale by Sotheby's in London on October 4.
beauty of a mufradat
2012 UNSOLD
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Calligraphy is a major art, though little practised and even little known in Europe. Its purpose is to sublimate the meaning of the words by the perfection of the letters. Islamic calligraphy is mainly dedicated to the Qur'an.
The mufradat of Yaqut al-Musta'simi is a summit of this art. It is estimated £ 800K, for sale by Christie's in London on April 26. Here is the link to the catalog.
A slave who became a scribe to the Caliph al-Musta'sim in Baghdad, Yaqut was a prolific calligrapher who copiedhundreds of Qur'ans while bringing to perfection the six scripts defined by Ibn al-Bawwab. He died about 697AH(1298AD).
This great artist was teaching his knowledge. A mufradat is a user manual demonstrating how to draw perfect letters. Those which have been preserved up to our time are extremely rare.
The mufradat for sale includes 15 sheets 18 x 29 cm and 5 fly-leaves. The black writing is a marvel of thinness and firmness, on a gold page illuminated with a polychrome floral motif. It is signed.
Calligraphy is a major art, though little practised and even little known in Europe. Its purpose is to sublimate the meaning of the words by the perfection of the letters. Islamic calligraphy is mainly dedicated to the Qur'an.
The mufradat of Yaqut al-Musta'simi is a summit of this art. It is estimated £ 800K, for sale by Christie's in London on April 26. Here is the link to the catalog.
A slave who became a scribe to the Caliph al-Musta'sim in Baghdad, Yaqut was a prolific calligrapher who copiedhundreds of Qur'ans while bringing to perfection the six scripts defined by Ibn al-Bawwab. He died about 697AH(1298AD).
This great artist was teaching his knowledge. A mufradat is a user manual demonstrating how to draw perfect letters. Those which have been preserved up to our time are extremely rare.
The mufradat for sale includes 15 sheets 18 x 29 cm and 5 fly-leaves. The black writing is a marvel of thinness and firmness, on a gold page illuminated with a polychrome floral motif. It is signed.
1459 A Timurid Manuscript
2019 unsold
On October 25 in London, Christie's sells a manuscript of a long Persian poem, lot 80 estimated £ 1M. The text in Timurid script is divided into four columns per page on both sides of 48 folios 30 x 19 cm. Four full-page paintings are inserted. The cover is illustrated with a hunting scene in lacquered paint.
The poem is Jam-i Jam, meaning the cup of Jamshid referring to the mythical Persian king of that name. It was composed in 733 AH by Awhad al-Din Isfahani for an Ilkhanid Sultan. The scribe recorded his name and dated 863 AH corresponding to 1459 CE, under the Timurid dynasty.
The four illustrations show animated scenes, painted in bright colors with a drawing of a pretty sharpness. They were probably painted by one artist. One of them is signed Bihzad.
Kemal al-Din Bihzad, born in Herat between 844 and 854 AH, is famous for having renewed the Persian miniature at the end of the Timurid era. Considering that the illustrations may be subsequent to the manuscript, this attribution is quite plausible. A colophon from the 17th century CE attests to their inclusion in this volume.
The binding is a little later, from the time of the Safavids who succeeded the Timurids in 912 AH.
The poem is Jam-i Jam, meaning the cup of Jamshid referring to the mythical Persian king of that name. It was composed in 733 AH by Awhad al-Din Isfahani for an Ilkhanid Sultan. The scribe recorded his name and dated 863 AH corresponding to 1459 CE, under the Timurid dynasty.
The four illustrations show animated scenes, painted in bright colors with a drawing of a pretty sharpness. They were probably painted by one artist. One of them is signed Bihzad.
Kemal al-Din Bihzad, born in Herat between 844 and 854 AH, is famous for having renewed the Persian miniature at the end of the Timurid era. Considering that the illustrations may be subsequent to the manuscript, this attribution is quite plausible. A colophon from the 17th century CE attests to their inclusion in this volume.
The binding is a little later, from the time of the Safavids who succeeded the Timurids in 912 AH.
> 1481 A Double Ottoman Portrait
2015 SOLD for £ 970k including premium by Sotheby's
2020 SOLD for £ 940K including premium
PRE 2020 SALE DISCUSSION
A double Ottoman portrait was sold for £ 970K including premium by Sotheby's on July 8, 2015 over a lower estimate of £ 300K. This oil on panel 33 x 45 cm is estimated £ 400K for sale by Christie's in London on April 2 (postponed to June 25), lot 118.
I narrated it as follows before it passed at Christie's on July 4, 2019, lot 39.
Mehmed Fatih, named Mehmet II the Conqueror by the Europeans, is one of the most glorious Ottoman Sultans, famous for the capture of Constantinople in 1453. Throughout the rest of his reign he led in parallel military campaigns and diplomacy, constantly threatening the commercial hegemony of Venice.
This Sultan had an atypical personality. He took a close interest to the artistic and scientific progress of the Italian Renaissance, knew several languages and accepted that his effigy is used. A medal showing Mehmed aged about 30 passed at Baldwin's on April 25, 2012.
Peace with Venice is signed in 1479. Mehmed demands that a good artist is sent to him. The Doge entrusts this mission to his official portraitist, Gentile Bellini.
Bellini's stay in Constantinople, which lasts several months, is a great success. The Sultan is delighted with the quality of his portraits on which his eagle nose is perfectly recognizable. Bellini's workshop will later make copies of these images. An oil on panel was sold for £ 470K including premium by Sotheby's on October 24, 2007.
Only one double portrait is known. Sultan Mehmed faces a beardless young man whose identity has not been identified. The similarity of the turbans shows that the two characters are of the same rank. The practice of a double portrait was still very rare at the time of Bellini's visit to Constantinople and this work can only be a studio interpretation. The attention paid to the clothes is Venetian.
Mehmed died in 1481, possibly poisoned. His son Bayazid the Pious who succeeded him was iconophobic in line with the Muslim practice. A possible hypothesis is that the portrait of the young man comes from a sketch made by another artist a few years before Bellini's mission and that the two original images are not contemporary of one another. The young man could thus be Bayazid around the age of 20, put in front of his late father for a Venetian patron who did not have a more recent image to honor the current Sultan.
When he came to the same throne in 1520, Suleyman was an iconophile. His portrait in the taste of Mehmed's portrait by Bellini, 33 x 28 cm oil on panel, was sold for £ 5.3M including premium by Sotheby's on May 1, 2019 over a lower estimate of £ 250K.
A double Ottoman portrait was sold for £ 970K including premium by Sotheby's on July 8, 2015 over a lower estimate of £ 300K. This oil on panel 33 x 45 cm is estimated £ 400K for sale by Christie's in London on April 2 (postponed to June 25), lot 118.
I narrated it as follows before it passed at Christie's on July 4, 2019, lot 39.
Mehmed Fatih, named Mehmet II the Conqueror by the Europeans, is one of the most glorious Ottoman Sultans, famous for the capture of Constantinople in 1453. Throughout the rest of his reign he led in parallel military campaigns and diplomacy, constantly threatening the commercial hegemony of Venice.
This Sultan had an atypical personality. He took a close interest to the artistic and scientific progress of the Italian Renaissance, knew several languages and accepted that his effigy is used. A medal showing Mehmed aged about 30 passed at Baldwin's on April 25, 2012.
Peace with Venice is signed in 1479. Mehmed demands that a good artist is sent to him. The Doge entrusts this mission to his official portraitist, Gentile Bellini.
Bellini's stay in Constantinople, which lasts several months, is a great success. The Sultan is delighted with the quality of his portraits on which his eagle nose is perfectly recognizable. Bellini's workshop will later make copies of these images. An oil on panel was sold for £ 470K including premium by Sotheby's on October 24, 2007.
Only one double portrait is known. Sultan Mehmed faces a beardless young man whose identity has not been identified. The similarity of the turbans shows that the two characters are of the same rank. The practice of a double portrait was still very rare at the time of Bellini's visit to Constantinople and this work can only be a studio interpretation. The attention paid to the clothes is Venetian.
Mehmed died in 1481, possibly poisoned. His son Bayazid the Pious who succeeded him was iconophobic in line with the Muslim practice. A possible hypothesis is that the portrait of the young man comes from a sketch made by another artist a few years before Bellini's mission and that the two original images are not contemporary of one another. The young man could thus be Bayazid around the age of 20, put in front of his late father for a Venetian patron who did not have a more recent image to honor the current Sultan.
When he came to the same throne in 1520, Suleyman was an iconophile. His portrait in the taste of Mehmed's portrait by Bellini, 33 x 28 cm oil on panel, was sold for £ 5.3M including premium by Sotheby's on May 1, 2019 over a lower estimate of £ 250K.
1510 The Box of an Ottoman Gemologist
2010 SOLD 2.4 M£ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The box is a useful object. In ancient Asia, if it was made for an emperor or a sultan, it could reach an incredible elegance.
Such a piece has just appeared on the market, for sale by Sotheby's in London on April 14. Its origin is located in Ottoman Turkey around the year 910 AH, 500 years ago. Its inscriptions indicate that it was designed to contain scales used for weighing gemstones.
Inlaid with ivory, turquoise and gold and set with rubies, this rectangular box, whose central part is illustrated in the press release shared by ArtDaily, is measuring 17.3 x 8.8 x 3.2 cm. Its partitioned ornamentation and refined vegetable motifs assess a combined influence of Ottoman art and of art of the Safavids, who just seized power in Persia. For this reason, it may be assumed that the craftsman who made it came from Tabriz.
Such a treasure, one of a kind, must yet have a price. It begins with an estimate of £ 500K.
POST SALE COMMENT
The most luxurious antiques have fervent fans. Result: £ 2.4 million including premium.
The box is a useful object. In ancient Asia, if it was made for an emperor or a sultan, it could reach an incredible elegance.
Such a piece has just appeared on the market, for sale by Sotheby's in London on April 14. Its origin is located in Ottoman Turkey around the year 910 AH, 500 years ago. Its inscriptions indicate that it was designed to contain scales used for weighing gemstones.
Inlaid with ivory, turquoise and gold and set with rubies, this rectangular box, whose central part is illustrated in the press release shared by ArtDaily, is measuring 17.3 x 8.8 x 3.2 cm. Its partitioned ornamentation and refined vegetable motifs assess a combined influence of Ottoman art and of art of the Safavids, who just seized power in Persia. For this reason, it may be assumed that the craftsman who made it came from Tabriz.
Such a treasure, one of a kind, must yet have a price. It begins with an estimate of £ 500K.
POST SALE COMMENT
The most luxurious antiques have fervent fans. Result: £ 2.4 million including premium.
1510 THE PROMISING DEBUT OF IZNIK CERAMICS
2009 UNSOLD
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Iznik ceramics are known and appreciated by auction users for their variety, their abundance and the quality of their colors. Pieces of the second half of the sixteenth century are common.
It is rare to be able to go back to 1510. Christie's does it for a bottle, for sale in London on March 31. As often in the ceramics of Iznik, the object is quite large: 27 cm high. It is drop-shaped, closing on a narrow opening. The motifs of white flowers are arranged in blue compartments whose slightly curved lines meet at the neck. It is surely no accident that these colors are the same as those of Chinese porcelain of the Yuan period.
To date the first Iznik ceramics, the benchmarks are the motifs that are found in the tiles adorning the tombs of the dignitaries. Those of our bottle display an aesthetic that could be considered as new circa 1506.
This piece had started a second career as a lamp base before the Christie's specialists recognize its importance and attribute to it an estimate of £ 80K.
POST SALE COMMENT
Unsold. This bottle had no neck, which probably explains this result.
Iznik ceramics are known and appreciated by auction users for their variety, their abundance and the quality of their colors. Pieces of the second half of the sixteenth century are common.
It is rare to be able to go back to 1510. Christie's does it for a bottle, for sale in London on March 31. As often in the ceramics of Iznik, the object is quite large: 27 cm high. It is drop-shaped, closing on a narrow opening. The motifs of white flowers are arranged in blue compartments whose slightly curved lines meet at the neck. It is surely no accident that these colors are the same as those of Chinese porcelain of the Yuan period.
To date the first Iznik ceramics, the benchmarks are the motifs that are found in the tiles adorning the tombs of the dignitaries. Those of our bottle display an aesthetic that could be considered as new circa 1506.
This piece had started a second career as a lamp base before the Christie's specialists recognize its importance and attribute to it an estimate of £ 80K.
POST SALE COMMENT
Unsold. This bottle had no neck, which probably explains this result.
1520 blue and turquoise at iznik
2014 unsold
Iznik, formerly Nicaea, was conquered by the Ottomans as early as 1331. When Mehmet II executes the old Turkish dream of the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the political importance of Iznik is immediately lowered. However, towards the end of his life, the Conqueror Sultan launches the artistic production of Iznik by protecting a master potter nicknamed Baba Nakkas.
Iznik ceramics are painted under a beautiful transparent glaze and fired in a single shot. Technically less sophisticated than Yuan porcelains, they are inspired by them for the shapes and decorations of the pieces. Because of their low hardness, they are not considered as porcelains.
The development is gradual, and the colors and decorative motifs allow to date with a good accuracy the oldest Iznik ceramics for which funerary pieces are providing useful date marks. The dish for sale by Sotheby's in London on October 8 has been made around 1520, when a copper turquoise joins the cobalt blue but no other colors are still used.
This large dish 35 cm in diameter displays a beautiful elegance with its patterns of flowers, clouds, palm leaves and arabesques which are a synthesis of the decorative traditions from and after Baba Nakkas. The turquoise blue is used for the central motif, a blossomed tree, symbol of life, of which no similar example is known.
This masterpiece of Ottoman ceramics is estimated £ 300K, lot 172.
Iznik ceramics are painted under a beautiful transparent glaze and fired in a single shot. Technically less sophisticated than Yuan porcelains, they are inspired by them for the shapes and decorations of the pieces. Because of their low hardness, they are not considered as porcelains.
The development is gradual, and the colors and decorative motifs allow to date with a good accuracy the oldest Iznik ceramics for which funerary pieces are providing useful date marks. The dish for sale by Sotheby's in London on October 8 has been made around 1520, when a copper turquoise joins the cobalt blue but no other colors are still used.
This large dish 35 cm in diameter displays a beautiful elegance with its patterns of flowers, clouds, palm leaves and arabesques which are a synthesis of the decorative traditions from and after Baba Nakkas. The turquoise blue is used for the central motif, a blossomed tree, symbol of life, of which no similar example is known.
This masterpiece of Ottoman ceramics is estimated £ 300K, lot 172.
1530 Spiral Stems for Suleyman
2019 SOLD for £ 530k including premium
On May 1 in London, Sotheby's sells a deep dish in Iznikceramic, 28 cm in diameter, lot 130 estimated £ 300K. The broad inner bottom is entirely decorated with five large spirals and four small spirals of foliated stems. The outer wall is more classically adorned with palmettes and flowers in the style of Iznik and Kutahya.
Its inner style is identified as the pottery of the Golden Horn since the discovery of many fragments in Istanbul between 1905 and 1909 in the foundations of a new post office. Fragments found at Iznik in 1984 confirm that this style was used in the latter production site, which does not exclude that similar pieces were made in Kutahya.
A fragmentary bottle kept in the British Museum is valuable to historians because it is one of very few examples of Iznik's ancient ceramics to bear a date. This date corresponds to 1529 CE, nine years after the beginning of the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent. Similar foliated spiral patterns are used at the same period as background illumination for the monogram or tughra of this Sultan.
The pottery dishes of Golden Horn type have varied proportions, both for the width of the rim and the depth of the depressed centre, undoubtedly under Venetian influence, and the foliated patterns recall the illuminated margins in the Christian manuscripts.
The decoration of the dish for sale is entirely in cobalt blue. A date around 1530 or slightly earlier is likely. Subsequent pieces often include turquoise, olive green and black. The 'Golden Horn' style disappears from Iznik and Kutahya potteries before the end of Suleyman's reign.
Intact pieces are extremely rare at auction. A tondino decorated with eight spirals on its broad rim and one spiral in its narrow depressed centre was sold for £ 210K including premium by Bonhams on October 16, 2003.
Its inner style is identified as the pottery of the Golden Horn since the discovery of many fragments in Istanbul between 1905 and 1909 in the foundations of a new post office. Fragments found at Iznik in 1984 confirm that this style was used in the latter production site, which does not exclude that similar pieces were made in Kutahya.
A fragmentary bottle kept in the British Museum is valuable to historians because it is one of very few examples of Iznik's ancient ceramics to bear a date. This date corresponds to 1529 CE, nine years after the beginning of the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent. Similar foliated spiral patterns are used at the same period as background illumination for the monogram or tughra of this Sultan.
The pottery dishes of Golden Horn type have varied proportions, both for the width of the rim and the depth of the depressed centre, undoubtedly under Venetian influence, and the foliated patterns recall the illuminated margins in the Christian manuscripts.
The decoration of the dish for sale is entirely in cobalt blue. A date around 1530 or slightly earlier is likely. Subsequent pieces often include turquoise, olive green and black. The 'Golden Horn' style disappears from Iznik and Kutahya potteries before the end of Suleyman's reign.
Intact pieces are extremely rare at auction. A tondino decorated with eight spirals on its broad rim and one spiral in its narrow depressed centre was sold for £ 210K including premium by Bonhams on October 16, 2003.
Kirman Fragments
2021 SOLD for £ 560K including premium
Persian carpets had their culmination in Kirman during the reign of Shah Abbas 400 years ago, at the time of the Safavids. The most complex technique, woven on three superimposed wefts, seems to be exclusive to that city. It is named Vase in the nomenclature of May Beattie. The external wefts are made of wool. The central weft is in cotton, or in silk for the most prestigious pieces. The weaving threads are made of dyed cotton in a wide variety of bright colors.
In 1999 the specialist Christine Klose established a similarity between various fragments scattered in museums in London, Paris, Berlin, Copenhagen, St Petersburg, Boston and Lyon, plus only one example in private hands at that time. She divides them into two groups according to the orientation of the figures and assumes that they all come from a single pair of carpets with a cumulative length of 16 m.
The stylized floral patterns are enclosed within a wide border in the signature Persian style of the Gardens of Paradise. All these fragments are in Vase weaving with a central cotton weft. 17 colors are counted. The density is 27 to 39 knots per square cm.
Meanwhile three additional elements have been discovered, making it possible to establish the cartography of this carpet. Such a reconstruction is exceptional. Other Safavid rugs probably also had monumental dimensions, but none of them remained complete.
The first of these new fragments is the Colville specimen, 296 x 193 cm, which enabled to compare the weaving technique between the corners and the central areas.
The Rothschild fragment, 205 x 286 cm, was sold for £ 540K including premium by Christie's on April 19, 2016, lot 100, . It includes the central motif of a border and its floral figures are displayed in a perfect symmetry, demonstrating that all these sections do not come from a pair of rugs but from a single masterpiece whose size is now estimated at 1,460 x 585 cm.
A 267 x 168 cm fragment has therefore just surfaced, with a mirror illustration from the Lyon fragment. It is estimated £ 400K for sale by Christie's in London on April 1, 2021, lot 147A. Please watch the video shared by the auction house before it was withdrawn from a previous auction during the peak of the 2020 health alert.
It is one of the best preserved, comparable to the Rothschild fragment of which it was originally adjacent. The irregular shape of the Berlin specimen suggests that some areas had been badly damaged, which would justify the dislocation, and although the surface is not complete the specialists do not expect any new discovery.
In 1999 the specialist Christine Klose established a similarity between various fragments scattered in museums in London, Paris, Berlin, Copenhagen, St Petersburg, Boston and Lyon, plus only one example in private hands at that time. She divides them into two groups according to the orientation of the figures and assumes that they all come from a single pair of carpets with a cumulative length of 16 m.
The stylized floral patterns are enclosed within a wide border in the signature Persian style of the Gardens of Paradise. All these fragments are in Vase weaving with a central cotton weft. 17 colors are counted. The density is 27 to 39 knots per square cm.
Meanwhile three additional elements have been discovered, making it possible to establish the cartography of this carpet. Such a reconstruction is exceptional. Other Safavid rugs probably also had monumental dimensions, but none of them remained complete.
The first of these new fragments is the Colville specimen, 296 x 193 cm, which enabled to compare the weaving technique between the corners and the central areas.
The Rothschild fragment, 205 x 286 cm, was sold for £ 540K including premium by Christie's on April 19, 2016, lot 100, . It includes the central motif of a border and its floral figures are displayed in a perfect symmetry, demonstrating that all these sections do not come from a pair of rugs but from a single masterpiece whose size is now estimated at 1,460 x 585 cm.
A 267 x 168 cm fragment has therefore just surfaced, with a mirror illustration from the Lyon fragment. It is estimated £ 400K for sale by Christie's in London on April 1, 2021, lot 147A. Please watch the video shared by the auction house before it was withdrawn from a previous auction during the peak of the 2020 health alert.
It is one of the best preserved, comparable to the Rothschild fragment of which it was originally adjacent. The irregular shape of the Berlin specimen suggests that some areas had been badly damaged, which would justify the dislocation, and although the surface is not complete the specialists do not expect any new discovery.
Royal Weavings in Kirman
2016 SOLD for £ 960K including premium
The rulers of the Middle East always enjoyed luxury. The Safavid Shahs developed to its greatest perfection the art of Persian carpet, first in Tabriz and then at Isfahan and Kirman.
Beauty and durability result from a high technical complexity whose climax is reached at Kirman. The weavers use wool and cotton in the same pieces with a wide range of dyes. The colors are dazzling and the themes with flowers, leaves and birds are charming.
The most complex weaving technique uses no less than three weft passes per knot. It is named Vase on a proposal by May Beattie in 1976.
On April 19 in London, Christie's sells a carpet and two fragments of Kirman Vase that had belonged to the Alice de Rothschild collection.
The oldest was woven before 1600, corresponding to the beginning of the reign of Abbas. This fragment 306 x 196 cm would be complete if it had kept its sides and ends. The catalog lists fifteen colors. The middle weft is made of silk, which is a characteristic of the most prestigious pieces. It is estimated £ 400K, lot 102.
Lot 100, estimated £ 250K, is a 205 x 286 cm fragment from a pair of carpets which were fragmented at an unidentified date and had been among the largest Kirman Vase ever made.
The third piece from this collection, dating from middle to late seventeenth century, is complete and in very good condition with a size of 251 x 151 cm. Large foliate motifs reinforced with more discreet blossoms are alternately dispositioned in partie and contre-partie offering an overall vision that tends toward abstraction. It is estimated £ 1M, lot 101.
The technique and design of this carpet are very similar to the Béhague specimen, of same width but 90 cm longer, which was sold for £ 6.2 million including premium by Christie's on April 15, 2010.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM
Lot 100 : £ 540K
Lot 101 : £ 960K
Lot 102 : £ 800K
Beauty and durability result from a high technical complexity whose climax is reached at Kirman. The weavers use wool and cotton in the same pieces with a wide range of dyes. The colors are dazzling and the themes with flowers, leaves and birds are charming.
The most complex weaving technique uses no less than three weft passes per knot. It is named Vase on a proposal by May Beattie in 1976.
On April 19 in London, Christie's sells a carpet and two fragments of Kirman Vase that had belonged to the Alice de Rothschild collection.
The oldest was woven before 1600, corresponding to the beginning of the reign of Abbas. This fragment 306 x 196 cm would be complete if it had kept its sides and ends. The catalog lists fifteen colors. The middle weft is made of silk, which is a characteristic of the most prestigious pieces. It is estimated £ 400K, lot 102.
Lot 100, estimated £ 250K, is a 205 x 286 cm fragment from a pair of carpets which were fragmented at an unidentified date and had been among the largest Kirman Vase ever made.
The third piece from this collection, dating from middle to late seventeenth century, is complete and in very good condition with a size of 251 x 151 cm. Large foliate motifs reinforced with more discreet blossoms are alternately dispositioned in partie and contre-partie offering an overall vision that tends toward abstraction. It is estimated £ 1M, lot 101.
The technique and design of this carpet are very similar to the Béhague specimen, of same width but 90 cm longer, which was sold for £ 6.2 million including premium by Christie's on April 15, 2010.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM
Lot 100 : £ 540K
Lot 101 : £ 960K
Lot 102 : £ 800K
Polonaise Safavids
2015 SOLD for $ 790K including premium
The art of carpet reaches its greatest refinement in the Safavid dynasty in Persia, specifically during the reign of Abbas I 400 years ago. The most complex techniques enable a high density and shimmering colors.
Provenances by textile center and dates are difficult to identify. The Béhague wool carpet in Vase weaving pattern is a Kirman. The Clark specimen executed in a variant of the same knot may come from the same location.
We date from the same reign an Isfahan silk rug 231 x 170 cm which was sold for $ 4,45M including premium by Christie's on June 3, 2008. Its luminescent effect is spectacular but was certainly very difficult to achieve without a brocade.
This Isfahan is probably earlier by a few decades than the Polonaise group of carpets from Isfahan or Kashan in which threads of silver and gilt silver are skillfully mingled with white and yellow silk among patterns of other colors often over a green background.
On October 1 in New York, Sotheby's sells a Polonaise rug 208 x 135 cm which had belonged to the collection of King Umberto II and whose conservation of colors is acceptable although the metal threads have been oxidized. It is estimated $ 800K, lot 68.
The reference to Poland is not original. In Paris in the late nineteenth century, Ladislas Czartoryski is a great collector who exhibited his brocaded carpets at the 1878 Exposition Universelle. Some of these rugs include a pattern that resembles the princely coat of arms of his family and he did not oppose the legend of a Polish weaving. An example of a Czartoryski carpet is kept at the Met Museum in New York.
Provenances by textile center and dates are difficult to identify. The Béhague wool carpet in Vase weaving pattern is a Kirman. The Clark specimen executed in a variant of the same knot may come from the same location.
We date from the same reign an Isfahan silk rug 231 x 170 cm which was sold for $ 4,45M including premium by Christie's on June 3, 2008. Its luminescent effect is spectacular but was certainly very difficult to achieve without a brocade.
This Isfahan is probably earlier by a few decades than the Polonaise group of carpets from Isfahan or Kashan in which threads of silver and gilt silver are skillfully mingled with white and yellow silk among patterns of other colors often over a green background.
On October 1 in New York, Sotheby's sells a Polonaise rug 208 x 135 cm which had belonged to the collection of King Umberto II and whose conservation of colors is acceptable although the metal threads have been oxidized. It is estimated $ 800K, lot 68.
The reference to Poland is not original. In Paris in the late nineteenth century, Ladislas Czartoryski is a great collector who exhibited his brocaded carpets at the 1878 Exposition Universelle. Some of these rugs include a pattern that resembles the princely coat of arms of his family and he did not oppose the legend of a Polish weaving. An example of a Czartoryski carpet is kept at the Met Museum in New York.
1783-1811 30 Years of Archives of a British Officer in the Middle East
2009 SOLD 217 K£ including premium
Harford Jones is one of those men today forgotten who have made history. His archives containing more than 3,000 pieces had been kept by his family, and resurface at Sotheby's in London on July 14.
These are mainly letters, covering thirty years of his career, from 1783 to 1811. From the age of 19 he was in Basra, as agent of the East India Company, for which he became the resident in Baghdad. His diplomatic skills earned him the honor of creating the position of British minister to Persia, then residing in Teheran.
This man who was deemed violent witnessed the violent events of his time. The British needed people like him to counteract the aims of the Napoleonic Empire in the region. The challenge of controlling the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf was India.
Intrigues, local conflicts, large and small political maneuvering will live again for the historian who will buy this set of documents, estimated K £ 150.
According to British tradition, he is found in the dictionary under the name he had at his death, Sir Harford Jones Brydges. Always careful to reward his officers, the British crown had appointed him a Baronet in 1807.
POST SALE COMMENT
It is always difficult to predict the price of a set of actual historical documents. The very good price obtained, 217 K £ including premium, shows that it is not always the best-known people who are most important.
This confirms my above formula that Harford Jones is one of the men who made history.
These are mainly letters, covering thirty years of his career, from 1783 to 1811. From the age of 19 he was in Basra, as agent of the East India Company, for which he became the resident in Baghdad. His diplomatic skills earned him the honor of creating the position of British minister to Persia, then residing in Teheran.
This man who was deemed violent witnessed the violent events of his time. The British needed people like him to counteract the aims of the Napoleonic Empire in the region. The challenge of controlling the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf was India.
Intrigues, local conflicts, large and small political maneuvering will live again for the historian who will buy this set of documents, estimated K £ 150.
According to British tradition, he is found in the dictionary under the name he had at his death, Sir Harford Jones Brydges. Always careful to reward his officers, the British crown had appointed him a Baronet in 1807.
POST SALE COMMENT
It is always difficult to predict the price of a set of actual historical documents. The very good price obtained, 217 K £ including premium, shows that it is not always the best-known people who are most important.
This confirms my above formula that Harford Jones is one of the men who made history.
1800-1801 The Qajar Courtesan
2010 SOLD 960 K£ including premium
200 years ago, Fath 'Ali Shah reigned over Persia. Second ruler of the Qajar dynasty, he took advantage of a period of relative peace to develop the new capital, Tehran. He loved luxury and promoted the arts.
Mirza Baba was one of the artists attached to the court. In 1215AH, he signed the portrait of a Lady, to be sold by Sotheby's in London on October 6. For conversion into common calendar, add 585/586 years.
This large oil on canvas, 146 x 94 cm, is estimated £ 500K. The young beauty of the East, richly dressed, sits with a calculated negligence. She has no name: she is an idealized courtesan. Beside the Shah, the characters of Qajar art are rarely identified.
On 12 October 2004, the same auction house had sold £ 900K including premium a portrait of Fath 'Ali, recognizable by his huge black beard. This oil on canvas, 203 x 115 cm, painted around 1220AH, was attributed to the best painter of the court, Mihr 'Ali.
POST SALE COMMENT
This painting is beautiful, typical, signed by a renowned artist in his category, and dated. The result is logical and deserved: £ 960K including premium.
Mirza Baba was one of the artists attached to the court. In 1215AH, he signed the portrait of a Lady, to be sold by Sotheby's in London on October 6. For conversion into common calendar, add 585/586 years.
This large oil on canvas, 146 x 94 cm, is estimated £ 500K. The young beauty of the East, richly dressed, sits with a calculated negligence. She has no name: she is an idealized courtesan. Beside the Shah, the characters of Qajar art are rarely identified.
On 12 October 2004, the same auction house had sold £ 900K including premium a portrait of Fath 'Ali, recognizable by his huge black beard. This oil on canvas, 203 x 115 cm, painted around 1220AH, was attributed to the best painter of the court, Mihr 'Ali.
POST SALE COMMENT
This painting is beautiful, typical, signed by a renowned artist in his category, and dated. The result is logical and deserved: £ 960K including premium.
FROM 1811 THE BOOK OF OTTOMAN COSTUMES
2010 UNSOLD
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
During the reign of Sultan Mahmud II, an artist realized the drawings of the Ottoman costumes. His name, Fenerci Mehmed, was identified on his albums but nothing is known about his life.
Four sets of copies of watercolors and gouaches were made by their author. The Koç Foundation has studied these drawings and reprinted them in a book published in Istanbul in 1986. The album kept in this collection indicates a date:
Muharrem 1226 (January 1811AD), but some of its costumes were designed after the
abolition of the Janissaries (1826AD).
The album for sale by Artcurial in Paris on December 1 contains 124 plates 26 x 17 cm. It is thus the most complete of the four copies, and the most documented with regard to the ceremonial costumes. The Turks will also be sensitive to the fact that one of the plates shows a soldier carrying a precursor of the current Turkish flag.
Connoisseurs of Ottoman history like realistic images that are somehow an invaluable slice of life of the ancient times. In addition, the drawings were made by a Turkish artist, not by a Westerner. This book is expecting a high price: € 600K.
During the reign of Sultan Mahmud II, an artist realized the drawings of the Ottoman costumes. His name, Fenerci Mehmed, was identified on his albums but nothing is known about his life.
Four sets of copies of watercolors and gouaches were made by their author. The Koç Foundation has studied these drawings and reprinted them in a book published in Istanbul in 1986. The album kept in this collection indicates a date:
Muharrem 1226 (January 1811AD), but some of its costumes were designed after the
abolition of the Janissaries (1826AD).
The album for sale by Artcurial in Paris on December 1 contains 124 plates 26 x 17 cm. It is thus the most complete of the four copies, and the most documented with regard to the ceremonial costumes. The Turks will also be sensitive to the fact that one of the plates shows a soldier carrying a precursor of the current Turkish flag.
Connoisseurs of Ottoman history like realistic images that are somehow an invaluable slice of life of the ancient times. In addition, the drawings were made by a Turkish artist, not by a Westerner. This book is expecting a high price: € 600K.
early 1820s The Shah who was never old
2014 SOLD 3 M£ including premium
The founder of the Qajar dynasty reestablished Tehran as the capital of Persia. His successor Fath 'Ali Shah developed the city and its palace.
Often in history a new dynasty enforces its authority by deploying an extreme wealth. The ceremonies of Fath 'Ali were sumptuous, decorated with the most beautiful rugs and finest gems.
The Shah wanted that his palace was decorated with pictures of himself and his family occupied in these luxurious ceremonies. These portraits were displayed lifesize like the English kings in Tudor times, and in oil on canvas, which was an innovation for Persian art.
For these reasons, the Qajar art under Fath 'Ali is unique. The name of the artist who directed this project for three decades is known : Mihr 'Ali. It is difficult to distinguish his autograph work because he had many students.
Throughout this period, the image of the Shah never gets old. He kept the huge black beard down to the belt and the mustache hiding the mouth. Only varied the luxurious details of the high crown, garment, carpet and of the wide bolster whose pattern often matched the carpet. The gaze is straight up to expressing a challenge.
On October 12, 2004, Sotheby 's sold £ 900K including premium a portrait of the Shah, 203 x 114 cm.
On April 9 in London, Sotheby's sells another canvas, 223 x 163 cm, estimated £ 1.5 M. The pentagonal shape is due to the space where the work was to be hung in the palace.
The Shah is kneeling on a carpet. He is accompanied by a standing teenager in a perfect costume, who is certainly his grandson Mohammad Mirza, eldest son of the Crown Prince and 12 years old in 1820 of our calendar.
POST SALE COMMENT
This outstanding Qajar portrait was sold for £ 3M including premium.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
Often in history a new dynasty enforces its authority by deploying an extreme wealth. The ceremonies of Fath 'Ali were sumptuous, decorated with the most beautiful rugs and finest gems.
The Shah wanted that his palace was decorated with pictures of himself and his family occupied in these luxurious ceremonies. These portraits were displayed lifesize like the English kings in Tudor times, and in oil on canvas, which was an innovation for Persian art.
For these reasons, the Qajar art under Fath 'Ali is unique. The name of the artist who directed this project for three decades is known : Mihr 'Ali. It is difficult to distinguish his autograph work because he had many students.
Throughout this period, the image of the Shah never gets old. He kept the huge black beard down to the belt and the mustache hiding the mouth. Only varied the luxurious details of the high crown, garment, carpet and of the wide bolster whose pattern often matched the carpet. The gaze is straight up to expressing a challenge.
On October 12, 2004, Sotheby 's sold £ 900K including premium a portrait of the Shah, 203 x 114 cm.
On April 9 in London, Sotheby's sells another canvas, 223 x 163 cm, estimated £ 1.5 M. The pentagonal shape is due to the space where the work was to be hung in the palace.
The Shah is kneeling on a carpet. He is accompanied by a standing teenager in a perfect costume, who is certainly his grandson Mohammad Mirza, eldest son of the Crown Prince and 12 years old in 1820 of our calendar.
POST SALE COMMENT
This outstanding Qajar portrait was sold for £ 3M including premium.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
