Autumn is always an exciting time. Business starts again after a well-deserved break, calendars are getting busier and attention gets directed towards the next big event: the second Islamic Week in London. Finally, the catalogues are out and we get to speculate on what will sell the most.

This fall, I found that Bonham’s, Sotheby’s and Christie’s selections are full of surprise. They confirm tendencies that were already visible in the spring auctions but also seem to announce new trends; let’s jump in!

Bonham’s opens on the 23rd by skipping altogether the traditional section of 8th-9th centuries Qur’an leaves on parchment. Sotheby’s, on the 24th, heavily reduces this section as well. We find ourselves wondering if this change is due to the material running dry or if we are witnessing an increased disinterest from merchants and collectors. No noticeable breakthrough has occurred in the field since François Déroche published his study in the 90’s and collectors might be getting cold, especially considering the enormous mass of material which looks exactly the same. That being said, Christie’s, on the 25th, opens its auction by a page from the blue Qur’an, this enigmatic manuscript probably made in Tunisia around the 9th century. Pages from the Blue Qur’an are sold very frequently, the last one just last year, but valuation never seems to drop, this one reaching £200,000-300,000. Three other lots of the same sort are presented at Christie’s, including one of 67 consecutive folios, previously presented at Sotheby’s in 2007 for £60,000-80,000 and sold £60,500. Christie’s shows caution and give an estimation of £40,000-60,000. The result might disappoint the seller, but future will tell us more about this possible disavow.

Other interesting tendency shared by Bonham’s and Christie’s, the quantity of Safavid tiles. Bonham’s has 8 lots, Christie’s has 6 including one of 19 pieces presented together, another one of 2. The items chronology covers mostly the 17th century, with a few later additions. London auctions often present this kind of Safavid tiles, but the quantity is unprecedented. Safavid ceramics is generally less represented than its Ottoman counterpart, but we might see here the beginning of a fluctuation. To be confirmed next spring.

Speaking about Ottoman ceramic, it is impossible not to talk about Sotheby’s main event: a blue and white Iznik pottery charger, produced circa 1480. I am not particularly fond of Izinik ceramics, I admit it freely, but this one seems to be an absolute beauty and I look forward seeing it “in the flesh”. Though Izinik blue and white were designed to emulated Chinese porcelains (as seen by the hatayi flower arabesque on the rim and the reverse), their decoration have rapidly evolved toward a characteristic “Ottoman style”. This plate shines by the perfect balance of the rumi motifs interlacing and the subtle yet definite palette of white and blue shades. Yes, I am in absolute awe. Unfortunately for me, with its valuation at £300,000-500,000, I will have to settle for a brief admiration before the piece goes to someone else.

Sotheby’s presents quite a lot of Iznik pieces – the kind I don’t like – and I wonder if the current state of the Lira will have an impact on sales.

While Sotheby’s focuses on ceramics (another Ottoman ceramic ensemble reaches £300,000-500,000), Christie’s clearly put the emphasis on manuscripts and paintings. I will start with the obvious: Reza ‘Abbasi Seated Youth. I wrote my first year Master degree on Reza ‘Abbasi and developed a real admiration for this painter, known for his bad temper and love of street fights as much as his undeniable talent. For those who may ask (no one, they reply), I worked on the impact of Armenian art on Safavid painting during the reign of Shah ‘Abbas Ier, starting with Reza ‘Abbasi and this curious piece of archive kept in the Holy-Saviour cathedral in the New Julfa (Isfahan). Written in an elegant naskhi, it states that Reza ‘Abbasi received a training from the famous Armenian painter Minas but that the Shah should never know. Though this memoir wasn’t particularly successful, it taught me how to appreciate these delicate representations of an insouciant youth (and humility, also).

Valued £100,000-150,000, the painting is signed but not dated. I am always careful with dates when it comes to Reza’s work, but this painting can be compared to the one of A young Portuguese dated 1634, in particular in the depiction of embroider textiles. As well, the painting bears the mention to the patron, Mirza Muhammad Shafi’, mentioned on other paintings by Reza’.

Christie’s shows a very interesting range of manuscripts and paintings and it would me take me days to comment them all. Instead, I will give a few honourable mentions. The first one is a page from the Chester Beatty Tutti Nama, produced in Mughal India around 1580-85, during the reign of Akbar (lot 172). Its estimation is surprisingly low, only £8,000-12,000, though the page seems to be in good condition considering its turbulent history.

The second one is a Safavid oil painting, valued £40,000-60,000 (lot 100). Part of a group of panel first published by Eleanor Sims in 1976 (Persian and Mughal Art, 1976), the format is still quite unusual and surprising for the 17th century. These life-size panels (1,66m with the frame) were probably destined to decorate one of Isfahan palaces, but beside a few European primary sources and engravings, we really don’t know much about them. None of them being signed, my guess is that these paintings were produced either by Armenian painters or by Persian painters under Armenian patronage. The rendering of fabrics on this panel is particularly clever and reveals a clear impact of European pictorial practices.

The last honourable mention goes to an elegant Qisas al-Anbiya produced in Ottoman Turkey during the 17th century (lot 238). Ottoman painting has finally started to get some recognition these past few years in academia, but also on the art market as we’ve seen last spring with the erotic manuscript sold at Sotheby’s for £561,000. The present manuscript was written in Farsi in an elegant nasta’liq but the 23 illustrations were undoubtly produced by a Turkish painter. It has already been sold at Christie’s in 2008 for £102,500 so it will be interesting to see what value it achieve ten years later.

Sotheby’s presents a few interesting manuscripts and paintings, including one that left my baffled. The lot 94 is presented as a page of the St Petersburg album (also called Leningrad album) and is valued at £20,000-25,000. The central field shows a 17th century Mughal depiction of Farhad spies Shirin bathing on the centre right and two women conversing on the right. The assemblage is mounted in large blue borders decorated with a golden floral arabesque. In theory, it looks like it, but I strongly disagree with this attribution for three reasons:

– The sizes don’t match: The St Petersbourg pages are 47,5x33cm, the Sotheby’s page is 46,8×30,8cm for a ratio margins/central field that seems similar. The Sotheby’s page doesn’t seem to have been trimmed, it still shows the outer line delimiting the border decoration. If the page was separated after 1910, as the catalogue suggests, then there is no reason for it to have been trimmed. This discrepancy can only be explained by a different origin.

– The decoration doesn’t match other pages from the album. Given, the page ornementation could be unique, it happens elsewhere in the album. That being said, all the pages with blue margins show consistence in their layout, especially the use of a golden line delimiting the ornamented field. On this page, the delimitation is a thick red band framed by golden line that doesn’t appear anywhere in the album. As well, the density of the arabesque design and its palette – two types of gold or gold and orange (to be confirmed de visu) doesn’t fit the rest of the album. The inner borders decoration doesn’t correspond neither, especially the colour theme of their background: pink and white, where the album shows a dominant of bright red, deep blue or gold.

– Finally, in the St Petersbourg album, all pages with blue margins are calligraphic sides, not figurative. This is an absolute constant and there is no way this page could have fit in this album with these margins, as it would have broken the internal balance of the volume.

Persian muraqqa’ can sometimes appear like a random gathering but in most volumes, especially those produced for an influential patron, there is always a logic in their layout, content or decoration. David Roxburgh has already demonstrated this for Timurid and early Safavid albums (The Persian Album, 2005), while Adel Adamova has worked on the Leningrad album (Medieval Persian Painting, 2008). Shamelessly promoting myself, I have also worked extensively on the album for my doctoral dissertation, especially its flower paintings and floral decoration. In my opinion, Sotheby’s experts got a little bit too excited with this page. It might have been produced for a slightly more recent album in Zand or Qajar Iran, but certainly not for the Leningrad’s.

I will finish this long article by mentioning the very interesting selection of Sikh artefacts offered by Bonhams from lot 200 to 220. The exhibition of the Toor collection, In Pursuit of Empire, held in London from July to September this year, along with the incredibly beautiful and rich exhibition catalogue, have shed a refreshed light on Sikh art, and it will be interesting to see if collectors follow.

A lot will need to be discussed after the auctions, and for those who would fancy a direct chat prior the auctions, I’ll be in London from the 23rd to the 26th. Feel free to get in touch!

London’s auctions are over, it is now time to debrief! Most importantly, for me at least, it is time to see if my predictions were right. Let’s avoid any unnecessary suspense, they were, for the most part.

If you don’t know what I am talking about, go read my quick overview of Bonham’s, Sotheby’s and Christie’s auctions here.

Bonham’s auction wasn’t particularly successful, a lot of lots were left unsold, especially the paintings. The selection was interesting and in accordance with Bonham’s lines of business, directed towards less impressive items but still of good quality. Goa 17th century saint John wasn’t sold, which is quite unexpected but could be explained by the restrictions on ivory trade in several countries like the US and France. That being said, the interdiction doesn’t apply to objects made before 1975, but it would be interesting to compare with the trade of Chinese ivory artifacts to see if the market has fluctuated since China announced its intend to forbid ivory trade.

The book of prayers written in Ottoman Turkey by Abdul-Qadir al-Hisari with its intriguing diagrams was sold for £2800, which is not too bad considering the fact this is not a popular text.

As expected, late illuminated manuscripts from the 19th century did pretty well, especially those from Qajar Iran. The selection was of homogeneous quality and most of them were sold without achieving very high prices.

The surprise with Bonham’s auction was the price reached by a single folio from a Mamluk manuscript on horsemanship, showing two lancers engaged in combat. Initially the item was estimated £3,000-5,000 but was sold £47,000. Unless their illuminated counterparts, Mamluk illustrated manuscripts are rare on the art market. They are not particularly common in public collections neither and are generally difficult to date and locate. Seeing so much as one isolated page bearing a painting reaching the public market is always a special occasion. The painting doesn’t seem to have suffered from any repaints and is quite elegant, while the writing is equally harmonious. That being said, I must admit that I was not expecting this much enthusiasm.

My favorite item presented during Sotheby’s auction, a bilingual print of the Qur’an published by Abraham Hinckelmann’s in 1694 achieved £10,000, a very honorable price in comparison to its initial estimation, £1,000-£1,500.

Without any surprise, the Ottoman erotic manuscript dated 1817, star of the show, was sold way above its estimation price and achieved £561,000.

Also not really surprising, the £333,000 achieved by this gorgeous Timurid monumental cut tile mosaic mirhab panel ensemble, composed of eight pieces. Though the story on how these fragments arrived to Europe can be debated, their overall quality and representativeness (yes, that’s a word) of Central Asiatic architectural decoration make them truly remarkable. The mirrored calligraphy in the center of the arch is simply a wonder.

Overall, metallic items didn’t reach high prices except for a few exceptions, neither Iznik potteries from the 17th century. I am tempted to say that prices didn’t really go crazy because we have seen enough brick red tulips and black scrolls, but that might be my own perception of 17th century Iznik ware that makes me scream “enough” at every auction.

However, it was expected that the 1545-1555 blue and white flask would do good, and it didn’t disappoint, being sold £669,000 (estimation £60,000-£80,000). This kind of flask was quite common in the Islamic world and was used during the Hajj to store water from the Zamzam river. The shape is actually way older and examples can be found during the late Antiquity and the first century of Christianity when containers like this one were used to carry water or oil from pilgrimage sites. However, never before was seen a flask in Iznik ware, and even less from the 1545-1555 production period, characterized among other things by the limited color palette imitated Chinese porcelains. This production always breaks records during auctions and this one is no exception. The charming decor of jumping animals must have helped as well!

The portrait falsely identified as Roxelana was sold £16,250, against its counterpart presented at Christie’s and rightly named after Titien’s original painting, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, sold the next day for £75,000.

Christie’s opening lot, an ensemble of nine unrecorded Qur’an folios made £596,750 and put all the other lots to shame but it was well deserved. The not so close second was the Fatimid golden armlet sold for £446,750. I would have loved to see it before it disappears behind a window (provided that it was preempted by a museum), and even more holding it in my hands to evaluate its weight! That’s the good thing with auction exhibitions, you can examine everything from up close.

It seems that 19th century Ottoman illuminated manuscripts are not particularly trendy right now, compared to their Qajar counterparts, as many were left unsold. Some of them were of great quality but the fact that Turkish codicologie is still at its formative stage doesn’t help, as a lot of calligraphers and painters named in the notices are not particularly famous. This probably stopped the gorgeous Qur’an copied by the master Yahya Hilmi in 1293/1876-77 to find a new owner. Though Yahya naskhi script is a pure wonder, as well as Osman Yümni illuminations, not to mention the perfect state of conservation, it seems that the estimation, £350,000 – £500,000 was too high, even for a manuscript this quality.

Overall, these three auctions confirm the new trends centered on pre-modern and modern periods. Geographical focus remains on Iran, Central-Asia and Turkey, with a clear fall of African’s pieces, either North and Sub-Saharian. As well, Chinese productions are pretty much absent, while we used to see a few years back pre-modern Chinese illuminated Qur’ans in every auctions.

It will be interesting to observe how things evolve in future auctions. Next London date in October !

April, what an exciting month. Spring is here, Manchester baby geese are being born (and their mother are attacking passer-by), and the Islamic week is held in London!

Every six months, experts, specialists and Islamic Arts enthusiasts gather on King Street and New Bond Street to examine, judge and discuss the new and old wonders offered to the highest bidder. What are the stars this year? Are new trends rising? Let’s take a look!

Bonhams open on the Tuesday with 368 lots. Most of them are manuscripts and isolated paintings from the 16th to the early 20th century, with the exception of the now classic 8th-9th centuries Qur’an pages. Bonhams pre-16th century generally lacks originality but balances it with some very interesting pre-modern and modern pieces. Among them, two in particular caught my eye:

This book of prayers was written in Arabic in Ottoman Turkey by Abdul-Qadir al-Hisari

in 1180 H/1766-67. It contains the names of God and the Prophet, as well as Hilyehs of the four Caliphs. The calligraphy is of good quality but the manuscript stands out by the unusual diagrams, including the sword of the Imam ‘Ali and Noah’s Ark. Estimation £2000-£3000.

The Goa production of Christian figures in ivory is nothing new but the St John the Baptist presented in lot 276 is particularly elegant. This production ranges from the 15th to the 19th century and its quality is uneven. However, the experts at Bonhams were not blind to this figure inherent charm and gave it a higher estimation than usual: £4000-6000.

Sotheby’s auction is full of promises. 105 of the 206 entries are manuscripts, some of them quite amazing. Among them, it is worth mentioning a gorgeous Ottoman erotic manuscript dated 1232/1817, probably produced for a unidentified patron depicted in several paintings (lot 105, £250,000-£232,000). The study of Ottoman arts of the book is still underrepresented, mainly because it has been considered for decades as a sous genre of Safavid and post-Safavid Persian painting. Evidence is that Ottoman painting is everything but a sous genre and for everything who still has doubts about the inherent quality of it, just take a look at this manuscript.

My personal favorite is a bilingual print of the Qur’an made in Hamburg in 1694. This item is not particularly interesting for its aesthetic features, though the Arabic script is interesting, but its historical and historiographical value is higher than the little £1,000-£1,500 estimation it was given. This print is one of the oldest edition of the Qur’an in the Christian West. It is due to the theologian Abraham Hinckelmann (1652-95) who had already printed a monolingual edition of the Qur’an in 1693 but insured the diffusion of the text by adding a Latin translation.

Finally, Christie’s King Street opens its sale on the 26th by nine Qur’anic folios unrecorded folios. It is always exciting when a new item appears on the market, and these small and antique fragments – 11.1×12.7cm, datable 8th century – are particularly important for Qur’anic studies. It wouldn’t be a surprise that a museum jump on this occasion and preempt the lot.

The selection of Western Islamic art offered after this is interesting and of high quality, especially the golden Fatimid gold armlet miraculously preserved.

I am always a little bit flustered by collection of ceramics, especially architectural, from the end of the 19th century. The collection of Lockwood de Forest shines by its coherence but brings the question of this acquisition – the same way does the Timurid tiles collection of Mnavzagan Pridonoff presented at Sothebys (lots 106-110). Even tough the catalogue partly specifies the amount of money spent by de Forest, we are left to wonder if his reputation as a collector of architectural ceramic and the price he was ready to put on a tile didn’t speed the destitution of historical monuments. Bearing that in mind, what should we do with such collections? They constitute an important part of Islamic Arts historiography but, as well as so many more Western gathering of artistic artifacts, the ethic behind them is debatable.

The focus has switched these past years from Medieval productions to Pre-modern, namely Safavid, post-Safavid and Ottoman. Indian Islamic Art is still very 17th Mughal focused but the light brought recently to post-Mughal art by academics and the increasing rarity of Mughal pieces could bring the emphasis to change.

The taste for later pieces is demonstrated in the Christie’s catalogue by the wide range of Qajar and Ottoman items. No less than 28 entries from 18th and 19th centuries Iran, including heavily decorated Qur’ans, oil paintings, lacquered boxes and enameled jewelry.

Fun fact, both Sotheby’s and Christie’s are presenting a version of Titian’s portrait of Caterina Cornano, Saint Catherine of Alexandria (Galleria degli Uffizi). Both paintings are similar in size but Christie’s dated the execution from the 18th century, while Sotheby’s painting seems to be more recent. Christie’s version is more refined, especially the use of shadows and the pose of the figure. One has been given an estimation from £8,000 to £12,000, the other only £5,000-£7,000, the message is clear. As well, it seems that Sotheby’s mistakenly identified the portrait as one of Roxelana, wife of Sultan Süleyman, also depicted by Titian around 1550 and given the name of La Sultana Rossa (Ringling Museum). Someone didn’t do their homework !

It will be interesting to read the results of these tree auctions and see what has been the rising stars or complete flops of the Spring Islamic week. Stay tuned !