An important curtain from the internal door of the Ka'Ba (Bab Al-Toubah) at Mecca, with tughra of sultan Abdul Hamid II (R.1876-1909), dated A.H.[1]321/A.D.1903-4. 80,000 GBP - 120,000 GBP. © Sotheby's Images

LONDON.-In the wake of Sotheby’s successful sale of Arts of the Islamic World earlier this year, which realised £4.4 million, the second biannual auction of Islamic art on Wednesday, October 24th, 2007, is set to generate huge interest among collectors and connoisseurs. The auction, which comprises more than 400 lots, is rich in rare and important works of art, including Qur’anic manuscripts, textiles, metalwork, astronomical devices, weaponry, ceramics, glassware and paintings that span from the rise of Islam in the 7th century through to the great ruling empires (Ottoman, Safavid and Moghul) in the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The sale will be the most important of its kind ever to be held by Sotheby’s and is expected to realise in excess of £5 million. Lire la suite http://www.artdaily.org/section/news/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=21785

A Portrait of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed Fatih “The Conqueror” by a Venetian Follower of Gentile Bellini, circa 1510, oil on panel, 21 by 16cm. Estimate: £200,000-300,000. © Sotheby's Images.