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22 octobre 2016

Sotheby's 'Art of the Middle East and India' brings grand total of £14.7 million across four auctions

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 Lot 294. A portrait of Sultan Bayezid I, School of Veronese, Italy, circa 1580. Oil on canvas, inscribed middle right: BAIAZETH.P°./.IIII; painting: 68 by 51cm; framed: 84.5 by 68cm. Estimate £150,000 - 200,000. Lot sold £185,000 ($226,940) to an InstitutionPhoto: Sotheby's.

LONDON.- Art of the Middle East & India Week – a unique group of five fascinating sales revealing the interwoven artistic traditions of multiple continents from the ninth century to the present day – realised a combined total of £14,737,875, exceeding pre-sale expectations (est. £9.1-13 million). Of the 270 lots sold across the week, nearly 60% exceeded their pre-sale high estimates with a quarter of the buyers new to Sotheby’s

Edward Gibbs, Sotheby’s Middle East & India Chairman, said: “We welcomed the world to our London galleries this week for a celebration of the rich artistic traditions of the Middle East and India. From exquisite Indian miniatures and medieval Persian manuscripts, to ground-breaking works of Middle Eastern and South Asian contemporary art, the cultural and stylistic cross-pollination presented in our exhibition and sales was reflected in the way that collectors participated across our auctions this week. The huge success of this week’s auctions was underpinned by the strength of the single-owner collections on offer, opening with the estate of Herr Dölf Amacker in our South Asian Art sale, followed by the incomparable Khosrovani-Diba Collection and the manuscripts of the late Jafar Ghazi. To round off the week we saw another sensational sale of 20th Century art from the Middle East, proving once again that London – and Sotheby’s - is at the forefront of the Middle Eastern art market.” 

20th Century Art / Middle East: 
Following the success of April’s relaunched 20th Century Art / Middle East sale, today’s auction once again soared above its pre-sale high estimate to bring £3,014,125 (est. £1.6-2.1 million), with a sell-through rate of 87.5%. The sale was led by the exquisitely elegant El Amira, the first marble sculpture by Egyptian artist Mahmoud Mokhtar to appear at auction, which sold for £545,000 (est. £180,000-200,000) after a prolonged bidding battle. Internationally-acclaimed Iranian artist Monir Farmanfarmaian’s mesmerising Variations on Hexagon of Octagon Mirrors also far exceeded its estimate selling for £245,000 (est. £120,000-150,000). There was a new record for Lebanese painter, poet and essayist Etel Adnan, whose exhibition at the Serpentine gallery in London took place earlier this year, as a seminal work from her California series sold for £35,000. Further auction records were achieved for Contemporary Iranian artist Hossein Valamanesh and Egyptian artist Ahmed Morsi. 

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Lot 25. Mahmoud Mokhtar (1891-1934, Egyptian), El Amira (The Princess), signed Mokthar, marble, height 38cm.; 15in. Executed in 1925 - 1930. Estimate £180,000-200,000. Lot sold 545,000 £. Photo: Sotheby's.

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Lot 2. Etel Adnan (B. 1925, Lebanese), California, signed and dated Adnan '82; signed, titled and dated on the stretcher, oil on canvas, 20.5 by 25.2cm.; 7 7/8 by 10in. Estimate £15,000 — 20,000. Lot sold 35,000 £. Photo: Sotheby's.

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Lot 12. Farhad Moshiri (B.1963, Iranian), For You I was a Puppet, you gave me breath..., signed and dated Farhad Moshiri 2003; signed, titled and dated in Farsi on the reverse; oil, acrylic and glue on canvas, 178 by 145.2cm.; 70 1/8 by 57 1/4 in. Estimate £15,000 — 20,000. Lot sold 35,000 £. Photo: Sotheby's.

Ashkan Baghestani, Sotheby’s Contemporary Arab and Iranian Art Specialist and Head of Sale, said: “Our London sale has quickly become a major platform for the Middle Eastern art market. This week we presented a tightly-edited selection of pieces by pioneering Modernist figures alongside leading Contemporary artists and emerging names making their first appearance at auction - it was tremendously exciting to see superb results across the board. ” 

The Khosrovani-Diba Collection: 
The single-owner sale of The Khosrovani-Diba Collection, a prestigious group of Indian miniatures by Mughal masters and fine paintings of the Rajasthani, Pahari and Company Schools, more than doubled pre-sale expectations with a total of £3,052,500 (est. £1-1.5 million) and over 87% of lots sold achieving in excess of their high estimates. The auction was led by an elegantly coloured and lyrical depiction of Radha consoled by Krishna in a forest, an illustration of a romantic night scene from the "Lambagraon" Gita Govinda series, which sold for £353,000 (est. £50,000-80,000). Another outstanding result was for a large and arresting study of a Stork eating a snail from the important Lady Impey Series, that was part of the estate of Jacqueline Kennedy when it was sold by Sotheby’s in 1996, which brought £245,000 (est. £60,000-80,000). 
 

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Lot 28. Radha consoled by Krishna in a forest at night, an illustration from the "Lambagraon" Gita Govinda series, attributed to Purkhu or his circle, Kangra, circa 1820. Estimate £50,000 - 80,000. Lot sold £353,000 ($433,025). Photo: Sotheby's.

gouache with gold on paper, nagari inscription on painted surface above Radha's head, blue inner border with gold foliate scroll, pink-speckled outer border, reverse numbered 34 with 21 lines of nagari text, painting: 23.5 by 31.2cm., leaf: 28.2 by 36.1cm.

Provenance: Sotheby's London, 14 October 1980, lot 308.

Notes: This lyrical scene is from the so-called "Lambagraon" Gita Govinda series, named after Maharaja Dhrub Chand of Lambagraon, Kangra, a descendant of Raja Fateh Chand, for whom the series may have been produced. The romantic night scene and the rich, fecund landscape are typical of a series that fully celebrates in visual form Krishna's amorous adventures in the forests with Radha and the Gopis.

Long associated with Kangra circa 1820 to 1825, the series has been attributed to the artist Purkhu, the leading artist at the court of Raja Sansar Chand (r.1775-1823), or his immediate circle (see Goswamy and Fischer 2011; Seyller and Mittal 2014, p.280-2; see also Losty 2012, p.30 for a nuanced opinion). Goswamy and Fischer describe the series thus:

"In the elegantly colored and richly conceived Kangra Gita Govinda series of c.1820, Purkhu and his associates seem to enter a different mode for in it not only are human emotions interpreted - the many moods of the lovers, their situations in love, now devoid of hope, now filled with joy - but also nature is celebrated with rare abandon. .... A landscape of the imagination is created: fragrant and drenched in color to form the perfect background against which the drama of passions is played out." (Goswamy and Fischer 2011, p.728).

The series is somewhat more direct in its eroticism than earlier ones, an aspect that may have prompted the English traveller William Moorcroft, who visited the court of Sansar Chand in 1820 (and while there saved the life of Fateh Chand, Sansar's brother) to remark that "Many subjects from the Mahabarut (sic) are given in details, some of which for decency's sake might have been spared, yet there were few of the latter description." (Moorcroft and Trebeck 1841, quoted in Archer 1973, vol.I, p.308).

Other illustrations from the series are widely dispersed in a number of private and institutional collections including the National Museum, Delhi, the Rietberg Museum, Zurich, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum and the San Diego Museum of Art (Edwin Binney 3rd Collection). Others have been sold in our New York rooms, 6 October 1990, lot 55-56, 27 March 1991, lot 27, and 20 March 1997, lot 4 (now in the Rietberg Museum, Zurich).

For further discussion of the series see Goswamy and Fischer 2011; Seyller and Mittal 2014, no.98, pp.280-2; Losty 2012, nos.10-11, pp.35; Goswamy and Smith 2005, no.105, pp.246-7; Mason 2001, no.87, pp.202-203; Ehnbom 1985, nos.125-6, pp.250-1; Archer 1973, vol.I, pp.307-8, nos.67(I)-67(iii); vol.II, pp.230-1, nos.67(I)-67(iii).

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Lot 20. A study of a Stork, from the Lady Impey Series, signed by Shaykh Zayn al-Din, Company School, Calcutta, dated 1781. Ex-collection Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, New York. Estimate £60,000 — 80,000. Lot sold £245,000 ($300,542) to an US Private. Photo: Sotheby's.

watercolour on European paper, inscribed at lower left "Jankhal, In the Collection of Lady Impey at Calcutta, Painted by Zayn al-Din Native of Patna 1781", inscribed with the measurements of the Stork at lower left, numbered 130 of original series at upper left and upper right; 54 by 75cm

Provenance: Sir Elijah Impey (1732-1809) and Lady Impey (1749-1818).
His estate sale, Phillips, New Bond Street, London, 21 May 1810.
Ex-collection Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, New York.
Sotheby's New York, The Estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, 23-26 April 1996, lot 44.

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First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy at the Taj Mahal, 15 March 1962.

Literature: T. Falk and G. Hayter, Birds in an Indian Garden, exh. cat. Michael Goedhuis, Ltd., (Colnaghi Oriental) and Mallet & Son (Antiques) Ltd., London, 12 June - 14 July, 1984

This large and arresting study of a stork is from the great series of bird and animal illustrations painted for Sir Eljiah and Lady Impey between 1777 and 1783, the earliest and without doubt the finest of the natural history series made for the British in India.

Sir Elijah Impey was appointed the first Chief Justice of Bengal in 1774, taking his wife and household with him, along with a moonshee to teach him Persian. They settled in the house previously occupied by Henry Vansittart, the governor-general of Bengal from 1760 to 1764, which was surrounded by a large park. Sir Elijah collected manuscripts and miniatures (see lot 18 in this sale) and had his personal seal cut soon after his arrival (many of the natural history illustrations bear his seal impression on the reverse, although these are often obscured by later mounting). His wife Mary developed an interest in the flora and fauna of India, and set about collecting animals and birds in the large park attached to the house. From 1777 she employed Shaykh Zayn al-Din, an artist from Patna, to record the various animals and birds in a naturalistic manner. The key to their arresting immediacy is that they were drawn from life, an approach not followed in Europe at the time. By 1780 the project had grown and Lady Impey employed two further artists, Bhawani Das and Ram Das. In 1783 Sir Elijah was recalled to London, by which time over 326 illustrations had been completed. After Sir Elijah's death in 1809, the collection was sold by Phillips of New Bond Street.

Examples from the Impey series are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Radcliffe Science Library, Oxford, the David Collection, Copenhagen, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. A very similar Impey series illustration of a closely related Stork species, also painted in 1781, was formerly in the V. S. Naipaul Collection and is now in the Yale Centre for British Art, see Fraser 2014, no.54, pp.120-123.

The present example has been identified previously as a Milky Stork (Mycteria cinerea, see Falk and Hayter 1983), which is native to Cambodia, Malyasia and Indonesia. However, the Milky Stork is usually much whiter in its plumage and has a more pinkish-red head. A more likely identification might be a juvenile or immature Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala) whose plumage is more grey and which has a yellow head, as depicted in the present example. This latter identification is strengthened by the fact that an Impey series illustration of an adult Painted Stork exists (see Sotheby's, London, 23 October 1992, lot 493), and since it was painted one year later than the present illustration, may indeed represent the same actual specimen. Furthermore, the Painted Stork is native to India, where it is a widespread resident of coastal and inland wetlands, feeding on molluscs and fish. The inscription at lower left gives the species as "janghal", which is a general name for herons and related species in Hindi and Persian.

Likened to Durga, the Goddess of Power, during her trip to India in 1962, Jacqueline Kennedy was known to be fond of Indian painting. Indeed, the journalist Suzy Menkes noted in a New York Times article about the Sotheby’s sale of her estate in 1996: “…What a taste for the exotic! The woman who insisted on seeing the Taj Mahal by moonlight and riding an elephant with her sister, Lee Radziwill, on a trip to Pakistan was drawn to miniatures of Mogul gardens” (Published on 6 March 1996). Her interest in the artwork of the Subcontinent may have also been fuelled by her friendship with the renowned American academic, curator, teacher and collector, Stuart Cary Welch, whose legacy in the field of Indian and Middle Eastern Art reached beyond his positions as Lecturer at Harvard University and Curator at Harvard Art Museums (and whose collection of Islamic and Indian art was sold in these rooms in 2011).

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Lot 21. A Satyr Tragopan, or Crimson Horned Pheasant,  from the Lady Impey Series, signed by Shaykh Zayn al-Din, Company School, Calcutta, dated 1777. Estimate £60,000 — 80,000. Lot sold £125,000 ($153,338) to an US Private. Photo: Sotheby's.

watercolour on European paper, inscribed at lower left "Pers. Murgh Munawwar Bright fowl, In the Collection of Lady Impey in Calcutta, Painted by Zayn al-Din Native of Patna 1777", numbered 32 of original series at upper left; 50 by 73.5cm.

Provenance: Sir Elijah Impey (1732-1809) and Lady Impey (1749-1818).
His estate sale, Phillips, New Bond Street, London, 21 May 1810.

Literature: T. Falk and G. Hayter, Birds in an Indian Garden, exh. cat. Michael Goedhuis, Ltd., (Colnaghi Oriental) and Mallet & Son (Antiques) Ltd., London, 12 June - 14 July, 1984.

scan-131

Sir Elijah and Lady Impey and Their Three Children (oil on canvas) Johann Zoffany (1733-1810). Private Collection, 91.5 by 122cm © Christie’s Images / Bridgeman Images

This large and splendid study of a Satyr Tragopan is from the great series of bird and animal illustrations painted for Sir Eljiah and Lady Impey between 1777 and 1783, the earliest and without doubt the finest of the natural history series made for the British in India.

Sir Elijah Impey was appointed the first Chief Justice of Bengal in 1774, taking his wife and household with him, along with a moonshee to teach him Persian. They settled in the house previously occupied by Henry Vansittart, the governor-general of Bengal from 1760 to 1764, which was surrounded by a large park. Sir Elijah collected manuscripts and miniatures (see lot 18 in this sale) and had his personal seal cut soon after his arrival (many of the natural history illustrations bear his seal impression on the reverse, although these are often obscured by later mounting). His wife Mary developed an interest in the flora and fauna of India, and set about collecting animals and birds in the large park attached to the house. From 1777 she employed Shaykh Zayn al-Din, an artist from Patna, to record the various animals and birds in a naturalistic manner. The key to their arresting immediacy is that they were drawn from life, an approach not followed in Europe at the time. By 1780 the project had grown and Lady Impey employed two further artists, Bhawani Das and Ram Das. In 1783 Sir Elijah was recalled to London, by which time over 326 illustrations had been completed. After Sir Elijah's death in 1809, the collection was sold by Phillips of New Bond Street.

Examples from the Impey series are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Radcliffe Science Library, Oxford, the David Collection, Copenhagen, the Yale Centre for British Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

The Satyr Tragopan, or Crimson Horned Pheasant (Tragopan satyra) is a resident of the forests of the Himalayas, where they can grow to over 70cm in length. They inhabit an altitude range from 2,000 to approximately 4,500 metres. The Persian name given at the lower left of the painting is murgh munawwar, translated there as "Bright fowl", although "Splendid fowl" perhaps conveys more accurately the rich and exquisite colouring of the plumage.

The present illustration is one of the very few from the Impey series that features a landscape element, and a further rarity here is the evidence of pentimento around the claws.

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Lot 5. Narada warns Kamsa, an illustration to the Bhagavata Purana, attributed to the Early Master at the Court of Mandi, Mandi, circa 1635-50Estimate £50,000 — 70,000. Lot sold £269,000 ($329,982) to an US Private. Photo: Sotheby's.

gouache and gold on paper, narrow black and red borders; 48.2 by 31.7cm.

Provenance: P & D Colnaghi and Co. Ltd., London, 1978.

Literature: T. Falk, E. Smart and R. Skelton, Indian Painting: Mughal and Rajput and a Sultanate manuscript, P & D Colnaghi and Co. Ltd., London, 1978, pp.53, 97, no.59. 
C. Glynn, 'Early Painting in Mandi', Artibus Asiae, Vol.XLIV, I, 1983, fig.7.
C. Glynn, 'The Early Master at the Court of Mandi', in Beach, Fischer and Goswamy, Masters of Indian Painting, Volume I, 1100-1650, Artibus Asiae, Supplementum 48 I/II, 2011, p.408, no.2a.

Notes: This is an important painting attributed by Catherine Glynn to "The Early Master of the Court of Mandi" (Glynn 1983 and Glynn 2011). It is an illustration to a large-format series of the Bhagavata Purana executed at Mandi circa 1635 to 1650. The attribution of this series and other works to Mandi in the mid-seventeenth century was made by Catherine Glynn in two ground-breaking articles in 1983 and 1995 that revealed the early development of court painting under Raja Hari Sen (r.1623-37) and Raja Suraj Sen (r.1637-64) (Glynn 1983 and Glynn 1995). The artist responsible for this body of work has been identified as the major artist at the Mandi court in the mid-seventeenth century, responsible for introducing and developing a style directly influenced by Mughal painting.

The present work is one of a series of at least twelve large-scale illustrations to the Bhagavata Purana, this one depicting the sage Narada, seated in the upper right alcove, with his customary vina, explaining to King Kamsa that a son of Devaki will destroy him and overthrow his kingdom (Glynn 1983, p.52). The debt to Mughal painting is very clear in this series, and particularly this illustration, with a strongly Mughalised composition, figures, architecture, textiles and garden.

For further discussion of this series and early Mandi painting in general see Glynn 1983, Glynn 1995, Glynn 2011, Goswamy with Bhatia.

002L16229_8SNJ9

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Lot 10. A royal horse attended by three grooms, Mughal, circa 1575-90. Estimate £200,000 — 300,000. Lot sold £257,000 ($315,262) to a Middle Eastern Private. Photo: Sotheby's.

gouache with gold on paper, inscriptions on margin and ownership notes and seals on verso; painting: 16.4 by 23.5cm; leaf: 20 by 27.1cm.

This scene of an elegant royal horse attended by grooms, one of whom is shoeing him with golden nails, is painted in a style that can be associated with the artists of the Hamzanamathe monumental series of paintings made for Emperor Akbar between approximately 1560 and 1580.

For summaries of the various theories on the dating of the Hamzanama, see Leach 1986, p.39, note 9; Stronge 2002, p.177, note 35; Losty in Beach, Fischer and Goswamy 2011, vol.I, pp.72-3; Rhie Quintanilla with Fraser 2016, pp.174-176. The present work has recently been attributed by John Seyller to Mukhlis, one of the probable artists of the Hamzanama, who continued painting into the 1590s, contributing to the Jaipur Razmnamathe British Library Darabnama (Or.4615), the Bodleian Library Baharistanand the Victoria and Albert Museum Akbarnama.

The popularity of horse portraits, often showing the horse with one or more grooms or attendants, grew from Persian origins in the sixteenth century and spread to India with the influx of Safavid artists and taste after Humayun's sojourn at Shah Tahmasp's court. Abd al-Samad, one of the artists brought to India by Humayun, was famous for his paintings of horses (see Canby 1998), and he was also the second director of Akbar's Hamzanama project. His prowess and predilection for painting horses clearly inspired his junior colleagues, for a lively painting of a horse and groom by Mah Muhammad shows his influence (see Seyller 2002, cat.14, pp.72-73, Canby 1998, fig.5, p.21), as does the present work.

The present painting is one of four in this catalogue that have similar library notes and seals on their versos and all seem to have been transferred to the Mewar collection in the late seventeenth century (see lots 1, 11 and 12). Three other works from the same group have been sold in these rooms in the past (23 April 1996, lot 5, 8 October 2008, lot 44, and 20 April 2016, lot 49). The notes and seals on the reverse contain the following information:

During Jahangir’s reign it was inspected in regnal year 8 (1613) and regnal year 10 (1615).

During Shah Jahan’s reign it was inspected on regnal year 8 (1635).
In the collection of Asaf Khan Khan-e Khanan (brother of Nur Jahan, thus Jahangir's brother-in-law, and father of Mumtaz Mahal, thus father-in-law of Shah Jahan).
Re-entered the Royal Mughal Library under the care of Muhammad Sharif in regnal year 15 (1642).
Entrusted to the care of Shams al-Din in regnal year 18 (1645).
Inspected in regnal year 24 (1650).
Inspected in regnal year 29 (1655).

Inspection note under Alamgir in 1069 AH (1659) accompanied by the seal of Azizullah (still using the Shah Jahani epithet).
Inspected in regnal year 7 (1666).
Seal impression of Sayyid Ali al-Husaini dated 1075 (1664-65).

Mewari inventory number 24/59 and a clerical note dated 1111 AH (1699-1700).

For the importance of Mughal Library inspection notes and valuations, see John Seyller 1997, pp. 243-349. For information about Mewari inventory inscriptions see Topsfield 1995.

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Lot 9. A portrait of Jahangir and a courtier, possibly Asaf Khan, Mughal, late 17th-early 18th century, with borders from a royal album made for Shah Jahan, Mughal, circa 1640-58. Ex-collection Maurice and Edmond de Rothschild. Estimate £40,000 - 60,000. Lot sold £185,000 ($226,940) to an Indian Private. Photo: Sotheby's.

gouache with gold on paper, floral borders from the Late Shah Jahan Album, two panels of illuminated calligraphy comprising two verses from different parts of a qasidah of Amir Khusraw Dehlavi; painting: 20.1 by 16.9cm; leaf: 36.4 by 24.9cm.

Provenance: P & D Colnaghi and Co. Ltd., London, 1976. 
Ex-collection Maurice and Edmond de Rothschild.

Literature: I. Stchoukine, Portraits Moghuls, IV, La Collection du Baron Maurice de Rothschild, Renne des arts asiatiques, tome VI, 1929-30, no.IV, pp.212-241, no.VII.
T. Falk, Persian and Mughal Art, P & D Colnaghi and Co. Ltd., London, 1976, no.132, p.198.

Notes: This delicate, coloured drawing of Jahangir conversing with a nobleman is unusual for the plain pink background against which the drawing is set. The nobleman represented here may be Asaf Khan, the son of I'timad al-Daulat, brother of Empress Nur Jahan (and thus Jahangir's brother-in-law) and father of Empress Mumtaz Mahal (and thus Shah Jahan's father-in-law). He was one of the most senior and trusted courtiers of Jahangir's and Shah Jahan's reigns, his final appointment being Khan-e Khanan, which was conferred on him in 1636. Although his face here appears slimmer than in the portrait of him by Bichitr in the Minto Album (Victoria and Albert Museum, IM.26-1925, see Stronge 2002, pl.118, p.156), he is depicted several times in the Windsor Padshahnama, where his face is much closer to the present depiction, particularly in "The wedding procession of Prince Dara Shikoh" (f.123A) and "The arrival of Prince Awrangzeb at the court at Lahore" (f.217B) (see Beach, Koch and Thackston 1997, no.23, p.65, no.44, p.107).

The exquisite borders originate from an album prepared for Shah Jahan known as the 'Late Shah Jahan Album'. This and other closely related albums have long been admired for their ravishingly fine borders decorated with flowers, birds, floral scrolls or trellises, animals and human figures. The most recent research suggests a date for the execution of the Late Shah Jahan Album of circa 1650-58, right at the end of the emperor's reign (Wright 2008, pp.107-139, 366-411).

Edward Gibbs, Sotheby’s Middle East & India Chairman, said: “Formed over four decades, every work in the Khosrovani-Diba collection had been handpicked for its exceptional quality and this was reflected in the steep competition that propelled the outstanding success of yesterday’s sale. Together each beautifully-preserved piece tells the story of the development of Indian painting – from the technical excellence of the artists to the centuries of cultural exchange. Yesterday’s result continues the tradition at Sotheby’s of presenting museum-quality collections of Indian miniatures, and will be remembered alongside landmark sales including Stuart Cary Welch and Sven Gahlin .” 

Arts of the Islamic World: 
The Arts of the Islamic World presented rare and exquisite objects telling the story of over a thousand years of artistic exchange and influence in the Islamic world, bringing a total of £4,656,125 (est. £3.8-5.5 million). The sale was led by forty manuscripts and calligraphies from the renowned collection of the late Jafar Ghazi, which doubled pre-sale estimates to total £1,992,125 (est. £676,000-994,000). Each of these works bears witness to the high esteem in which calligraphy was held in Turkey, the Middle East and Persia from the medieval period up until the end of the Ottoman era. The group was led by superb Timurid manuscript of Sa’adi’s Kulliyat, in almost pristine condition, complete with fine, crisp illumination and tooled and filigree-work binding that took at least nine years to complete, which sold for £473,000 (est. £80,000-120,000). A further highlight was the School of Veronese portrait of Sultan Bayezid I, also known as Yildirım (The Thunderbolt), the fourth ruler of the Ottoman Empire posing with a cross-shoulder glance in the manner of the great masters Giorgione and Titian, sold for £185,000. 

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Lot 123. Sa'adi (d.1292 AD), Kulliyat, signed by Na’im al-Din al-Katib, Persia, Timurid, dated 890 AH/1486 AD and 899 AH/1494. Estimate £80,000-120,000. Lot sold £473,000 ($580,229) to an European PrivatePhoto: Sotheby's

(Cf. Sotheby's London announces rare and exquisite objects in its Arts of the Islamic World sale)

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Lot 294. A portrait of Sultan Bayezid I, School of Veronese, Italy, circa 1580. Oil on canvas, inscribed middle right: BAIAZETH.P°./.IIII; painting: 68 by 51cm; framed: 84.5 by 68cm. Estimate £150,000 - 200,000. Lot sold £185,000 ($226,940) to an InstitutionPhoto: Sotheby's.

(Cf. Sotheby's London announces rare and exquisite objects in its Arts of the Islamic World sale)

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Lot 228. A large and impressive Ilkhanid lustre mihrab tile, Persia, 13th-14th century. Estimate £20,000 — 30,000. Lot sold £413,000 ($506,627) to an European PrivatePhoto: Sotheby's.

moulded in relief with an opacified tin glaze enhanced with cobalt blue and turquoise over-decorated in lustre, the central arched panel enclosing an inscription on a ground of spiralling floral tendrils, split-palmettes within the spandrels, bordered by a calligraphic band also in relief, set in old metal mount; 48 by 36.5cm.

Provenance: Purchased on 2 March 1922 by the uncle of the consignor's grandfather, Émile Moreau (1868–1950), Governor of the Bank of Algeria, then Governor of the Banque of France. 
Thence by descent.

This work is accompanied by a copy of the original purchase invoice:
'Musée Oriental, Maison Raoutsi Ben Kalfate, Esplanade de Méchouar, Tlemcen, Algérie, 2 Mars 1922'.

13dfab23d017ab78a132774538d271ce

Original purchase invoice.

inscriptions

In the borders: Qur’an, chapter XI (Hud), verses 114-115.

In the centre (with parts repainted): Qur’an, chapter CXII (al-Ikhlas) and Qur’an, chapter III (Al ‘Imran), part of verse 18.

Following the devastating invasion of the Mongol hordes in the 1220s, the ceramic industry in Persia declined momentarily, only to be revived by a fresh approach and innovative design vocabulary. The use of lustre plays a prominent role in this expansion, and huge complexes, with monumental mihrab shrines were built, combining cobalt-blue, turquoise and honey-lustre tiles. Notable examples include the mihrab from the shrine at Mashhad, dated 640 AH/1242 AD (now in the Shrine Museum, Mashhad), the mihrab from the Imamzada Habib ibn Musa in Kashan, dated 667-670 AH/1268-71 AD (Iran Bastan Museum, Tehran, inv. no.3289), and the Mihrab from the Imamzada Ali ibn Ja’far, in Qumm, signed and dated 734 AH/1334 AD (now in the Iran Bastan Museum, Tehran, inv. no. 3270). A further magnificent example originally came from the Maidan Mosque in Kashan, dated to 623 AH/1226 AD, and now in the Museum für Islamische Kunst, Staatliche Museen, Berlin (inv. no.I. 5366) (For a further discussion and citation on these examples, see Watson 1985, pp.122-149).

Kashan mihrabs of this period are particularly impressive due to their size, variance in thickness and the unstable nature of the firing process at this time with pieces of this size. The even lustre that can be seen on this tile is particularly remarkable given the difficulties in controlling the passage of air throughout the kiln. The present example would have probably formed part of a central section from a larger mihrab panel as cited above. Two close comparables are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, inv. no. C.1977-1910, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no.09.87), both which include stylised mosque lamps as part of their design, echoing their close relationship with light, through the medium of lustre and their function as propagators of the Divine word.

Benedict Carter, Sotheby’s Head of Auction Sales Middle East, “Once again we’ve seen the power of esteemed single-owner collections attracting buyers from every corner of the globe – witnessed so clearly in the outstanding results for the manuscripts from the collection of the late Jafar Ghazi. The cross section of Qur’ans and calligraphies, alongside secular works on science, medicine, mathematics and astronomy reflect a golden age of the Islamic arts of the book, from the medieval period until the end of the Ottoman era. This sought-after mix of prestigious provenance and historical importance carried the Ghazi collection well beyond expectations, with bidding not only from private collectors, but also museums in America, Europe and the South Asia.” 

Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art: 
Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art Sale in London showcased an impressive range of paintings and sculpture by Modern masters, from storied collections with stellar provenances, realising £4,015,125, which well exceeded the pre-sale estimate of £2.7-4m. Francis Newton Souza’s masterwork, The Deposition, 1963, was the top lot, achieving £1,565,000 almost three times the high estimate. There was also an outstanding result for another of Indian’s Modern Masters, with Vasudeo S. Gaitonde’s Untitled, 1973, selling for £965,000, doubling the price it achieved when last on the market in 2013. This sale opened with a collection of Indian works from Swiss collector Herr Dölf Amacker, not seen since the 1970s; all 21 lots sold with many going for multiple times their estimates.  

Yamini Mehta, Sotheby’s International Head of Indian and South Asian Art, said: “We were delighted with the sale result which demonstrated the strength of the market internationally for this field of collecting. The sale total exceeded expectations, driven by a broad global spread of buyers from Europe, US, India and the Middle East. Almost fifty percent of the lots sold achieved prices above their high estimate, and the sale overall reached the highest sell-through rate in this category at Sotheby’s since 2008. This is truly testament to the winning combination of outstanding fresh-to-the-market works offered with appealing estimates”.

 

 

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