ORIENTALIST & MIDDLE EASTERN ART EXCEEDS PRE-SALE EXPECTATIONS TO BRING TOTAL OF £15 MILLION / $20.9 MILLION Over Half of Lots Sold Across the Week Achieved Prices Above Their High Estimates Driven by Bidding From 44 Countries 6 Artist Auction Records Achieved Including Iranian Modernist Bahman Mohasses World Auction Record for a 20th Century Carpet

Edward Gibbs, Sotheby’s Middle East & India Chairman, said: “Following a landmark year for Sotheby’s in the Middle East, our London auctions of Orientalist and Middle Eastern art have continued their upward trajectory, underpinned by the depth of bidding witnessed across the last three days for fresh-to-the-market, exceptionally rare and historically important lots. The truly global appeal of these collecting categories was evident throughout, as we welcomed over 400 participants hailing from 44 countries across the globe. A month after we celebrated the first anniversary of our new gallery in Dubai, we are delighted that the results of this sale series was bolstered by a 44% increase in the number of buyers from the UAE. We look forward to what the rest of the year has to offer, as an ever-increasing audience discovers this area of the market.”

ARTS OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD
Today’s Arts of the Islamic World auction explored more than 1,200 years of artwork spanning three continents – covering the vast historical and geographical breadth of art produced under Islamic patronage to bring an above-estimate total of £6,129,875 / $8,557,918 (est. £3,737,500-5,391,000). The top lot of the sale was a unique Iznik blue and white pottery pilgrim flask elegantly adorned with a fantastical mix of animals, which sold for nearly ten times its pre-sale estimate at £669,000 / $933,991 (est. £60,000-80,000). Testament to the breadth of experimentation of Iznik potters, the early decorative piece is the only known example of this distinctive – and ambitious – shape.

Returning to Sotheby’s, where it was last sold in April 1978, a further highlight was an extremely rare Ottoman erotic manuscript, lavishly illustrated with 85 miniatures on vellum and thought to bear within it portraits of its patron. Following an extended bidding battle, the 18th/19th century document brought £561,000 (est. £250,000-350,000).

Of monumental scale and superlative quality, rare examples of cut-mosaic tilework from the Timurid empire of the 14th-15th century from the collection of Mnavzagan Pridonoff sparked intense competition. Each and every one of the five lots offered soared above their pre-sale estimates to bring a combined total of £1,261,500 / $1,761,180 (est. £270,000-390,000). The group was led by a distinctive blue and turquoise panel into which fluid white and ochre calligraphic inscriptions are laid, which brought £513,000 / $716,199 (est. £80,000-120,000).

Exquisite examples of medieval manuscripts abounded, highlighted by an early autograph copy of Al-Farisi's landmark work, the Kitab tanqih al-manazir, which carries a remarkable cross-sectional diagram thought to be the earliest known illustration of the human eye. Of exceptional historical importance, drawing on the work of Greek scholars Euclid, Ptolemy, Aristotle and Galen, the celebrated manuscript sold for £549,000 / $766,459 (est. £250,000-350,000).

A further piece making its auction debut was an exceptional Mamluk silver-inlaid cast brass bowl, emblazoned with elegant inscriptions and organic floral details, which sold for £333,000 / $464,901 (est. £60,000-80,000). Commissioned by a high-ranking officer at the Mamluk court, it was formerly in the collection of Aton Exner, an Austrian publisher who donated a collection of over two thousand works to the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna in 1948.

20TH CENTURY ART / MIDDLE EAST
A vibrant international platform for modern and contemporary arts for Arab, Iranian and Turkish art in London, Sotheby’s 20th Century Art / Middle East auction totalled £2,140,250 / $2,983,509 (est. £1,775,500-2,497,000), with 40% of the works selling for above their pre-sale high estimates. The sale was led by pioneering Egyptian modernist Mahmoud Saïd’s sumptuous depiction of Adam and Eve as two imposing figures within a lush desert oasis. A daring work from 1937 encapsulating the dialogue between Western history of art and the prevailing Egyptian spirit, Adam and Eve made its auction debut at £644,000 / $882,402 (est. £300,000-500,000) – the highest price ever achieved for a nude painting by the artist.

A further highlight was one of the rarest works by icon of Iranian modernism Bahman Mohasses to ever appear at auction. The Minotaur Scares the Good People (1966), a highly-charged representation of the artist’s lifetime grappling with demons of alienation, loneliness and disenfranchisement, soared above estimate to £549,000 / $765,306 (est. £280,000-350,000) – a record for the artist in dollars*. Another of the artist’s minotaurs appeared in the sale, in the form of a sinewy bronze sculpture, bringing £37,500 / $52,275 (est. £20,000-30,000). Star of the first museum dedicated to a solo female artist in Iran, the inimitable Monir Farmanfarmaian also shone in the saleroom, as her monumental mirror-mosaic Recollections I (2008) sold for £237,000 / $330,378 (est. £160,000-200,000).

L18100 The Orientalist Sale - Top Ten

L18220 Arts of the Islamic World - Top Ten

L18228 20th Century Art Middle East - Top Ten

L18873 Rugs & Carpets - Top Ten