Isabelle Imbert

Tag: islamic art

  • After the Storm, Another Storm?

    After the Storm, Another Storm?

    The effect of the Pandemic on the London Islamic week of Spring 2021

    The year 2020 has been challenging for the world and everybody on the planet has felt the impact on the pandemic. Not being out of the woods yet, the beginning of this year seems more hopeful with the promise of a vaccine in most countries, but we’ll more likely see long-term effects of this crisis, starting with the London Islamic week of Spring 2021.

    For the Islamic arts market, and the art market in general, 2020 has forced a rapid shift, proving the capability of auction houses to adapt, but not without consequences.

    All prices below include premium.

    Bayazid Bastami and Khizravayh b. Shaykh Ahmad, Iran, c. 1570. Christie’s 01.04.21, lot 17, £4-6.000

    A rapid shift to avoid the worst

    From a purely financial perspective, the worst was avoided. For pre-modern Islamic and Indian arts, Sotheby’s took the biggest hit, achieving overall £10,526,614, a 31.6% decrease compared to last year. Christie’s maintained its base revenue with £21,927,125, a 0.41% decrease from 2019, but excluding the exceptional sale (as in “one time event”) of the al-Thani collection, held in New York in July 2019 and that made $109,031,875.
    Bonhams sustained a 32% growth by maintaining its 4 annual sales, two live and two online, while Chiswick auctions registered a 5.75% decrease while adding additional online auctions.

    In France, Millon et Associés also endured the pandemic with a 37.2% decrease in revenue, also due to the fact that 2019 was an exceptionally good year for this house that managed to sell a page of the Padshanama.

    Ram, Qajar Irna, 19th c. Bonhams 30.03.21 lot 35, £1.5-2000

    Sotheby’s heavy decline can be attributed to two things. First, a disappointing spring auction where most of the star items didn’t sell, such as the blue and black Kashan ewer from the Edward Binney III collection. Overall the sale made £3.6 millions, Sotheby’s London lower result since October 2017. Secondly, the sale of artefacts from the L.A. Mayer Museum in Jerusalem, aborted due to the controversy surrounding deaccessionning, was a blow for the house that was already behind his main competitor.

    Travel restrictions, forced closure of non-essential businesses and the overall insecurity about the immediate future could have turned most buyers away, but the move to online auctions, already initiated in the previous years, allowed a smooth transition. Online catalogues, online bidding and 360° exhibition tours are already a tool for major houses, but the pandemic has accelerated the process. We can expect to see printed catalogues disappear completely in the next few years, Christie’s having already announced its plan to decrease by half the number of catalogues sent around the world.1

    Zodiac bassin, Iran 13th c. Sotheby’s lot 79, £ 1-1.5M

    A Cloudy Present: London Islamic week of Spring 2021

    The biggest London auction houses, Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Bonhams have just published their catalogue and their content seem to reflect both the effects of the pandemic and the increasing challenges of the Islamic arts market. Firstly, the catalogues are a lot smaller than usual: 141 lots for Bonhams presented on the 30th March, 183 lots including 45 carpets for Sotheby’s on the 31st March and 157 lots including 57 carpets at Christie’s on the 1st April. In comparison, Christie’s had 205 lots in 2020 and 302 in 2019. The pandemic has made it more difficult for experts to travel and source objects, but more generally, it is getting harder to source never sold before items.

    That being said, both Christie’s and Sotheby’s have managed to source unpublished star lots. The 13th century Khorassan basin with silver-inlaid astrological figures is nothing less but extraordinary. The silver decoration is mostly intact, which is rare given the fragility of silver incrustations, while the size (50 cm diameter) and the quality of the figurative decor make the high valuation, £1.000.000-1.500.000, completely justified. For the first time since 2010, Christie’s most expensive lot is a 19th century Qajar painting2, known to have been part of the collection of late artist Frederic Clay Bartlett (1873-1953). The massive group portrait, valued £1.000.000-1.500.000, is described in extensive details by Dr Layla S Diba, great scholar of Qajar Iran. The painting is presented as a “rediscovery”, but it was never lost, it was part of the permanent and exposed collections of Bonnet House Museum and Gardens. About its sale, Patrick Shavloske, CEO, commented:

    But the time has come for the Qajar painting to move to a new home that is better positioned to give the artwork the care and honour it so richly deserves. Proceeds from the Qajar painting sale will be used by the museum to conserve its paintings by Frederic Clay Bartlett and Evelyn Fortune Bartlett as well as the historic Bonnet House itself, also an artful creation of the Bartletts.3

    Unidentified Qajar prince, Christie’s 1st April 21, lot 31

    Museums deaccessionning part of their collections to compensate the lost of revenues caused by the pandemic have sparked a large debate, and though the sale of L.A. Mayer Museum at Sotheby’s ultimately failed, this auction is not getting the same traction, most likely because it is limited to one artefact.

    Both Sotheby’s and Christie’s have managed to source interesting manuscripts. Christie’s is presenting a Qur’an with a colophon bearing the name of the famous 13th century calligrapher Yaqut al-Musta’simi, valued £300.000-500.000. The manuscript was illuminated in 17th century Safavid Iran, but the writing looks genuine to a non-specialist of Ilkhanid calligraphy such as myself. We can regret the fact that Christie’s didn’t get the opinion, nor even quote Dr Nourane Ben Azzouna, specialist of Yaqut al-Musta’simi, to confirm if the manuscript is genuine.4 A genuine manuscript signed by one of the greatest masters of calligraphy is an event that would have required further investigations.

    A surprising view in Christie’s catalogue is the page wrongly attributed to the St Petersburg Muraqqa’, sold at Sotheby’s in 2018 for £25.000 and discussed on this blog. This time, the page is valued at £7.000-10.000, a huge drop from the initial sale price.

    Sotheby’s is presenting a very interesting Qur’an dated 920/ 1514, signed by the calligrapher and dedicated to the Chief of Justice of Jerusalem and Nablus, only 2 years before the conquest of Jerusalem by the Ottoman armies. The arts of the book from the extreme end of the Mamluk dynasty have not been studied in much details yet, so this complete manuscript constitutes an interesting testimony of the period.

    Some lots, however, clearly reflect the difficulties that both Sotheby’s and Christie’s had constituting exciting catalogues. For instance, Christie’s presents a “page from the Nasir al-din Shah album“ valued £3.000-5.000. Though this page might be attached to an album produced for the sovereign of the Qajar dynasty, Nasir al-Din around 1888, the page is not from the Nasir al-din Shah album, very famous muraqqa’ initially gathered in Mughal India and passed to Iran after Delhi sac by the army of the Afshar king Nasir al-din Shah in 1747. Words matter, though I do not think buyers will be duped.
    Same goes with a Mamluk Qur’an page on pink paper offered by Sotheby’s for £6.000-8.000. The page is dated in the catalogue circa 728/ 1327 on the basis of a different page sold in 2008, also undated but previously published by the art dealer Philip C Duschnes as originating from a Qur’an written by Ahmad b. ‘Abdullah b. al-Mansur Hashemi al-‘Abbasi, completed 7 Sha’ban 728. This convoluted datation is problematic, especially given that I am not completely convinced the page from 2008 comes from the same manuscript as the two pages from 2011 and 2021. My doubts are based on the different quality level of the kufic script in the headers and some details in the thuluth script. Beside the fact that the colophon remains unpublished to this day, the datation of the page can be questioned on the basis of the illumination style, closer to the productions from the second half of the 14th century than the late 1320’s.4

    On the left, the page sold in 2008; On the right, Sotheby’s 31.03.21 lot 5.

    Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Bonhams catalogues contain a majority of later artefacts, mainly 18th and 19th centuries, which reflect the difficulties the houses have encountered sourcing Medieval and Pre-Modern objects. This might be why some attributions to the Safavid era seem a bit far-fetched.
    For £100.000-150.000, Christie’s is offering an album page showing the rest on the flight into Egypt, given to the famous Safavid painting Muhammad Zaman and dated 1076/ 1665-66. I have several problems with this page beside the commonplace of the inscription, ya saheb al-Zaman, often linked to the painter without much afterthoughts, so here come the bullet points:

    • Though Biblical themes and copies from European prints have been a constant in Muhammad Zaman career, the style of this particular painting doesn’t fit the painter’s, it lacks the roundness of his forms and the volumes created with strong shades.
    • The painting is on vellum, which is a highly singular for Muhammad Zaman and Safavid painters in general (though they have experienced with various media).
    • The painting is signed but unfinished, which is unprecedented in Muhammad Zaman catalogue
    • The date 1076/1665-66 seems to be too early in the artist’s career. Though Muhammad Zaman biography is still open to debate, the core of his work is dated from the 1670s to 1690s, with a seemingly confirmed date of death in 1700.
    Christie’s 1.04.21 lot 20, attributed to Muhammad Zaman, £100-150.000

    Despite a smaller catalogue, Bonham’s has managed to remain coherent with their usual focus on later Indian art, particularly Punjabi and Sikh. Their star lot is a 19th century portrait of Raja Lal Singh by the Austrian painter Augustus Theodor Schoefft, valued £150.000-250.000. Among the most prestigious artefacts feature a gorgeous Chand-Tikka from the collection of Maharani Jindan Kaur (1817-63) valued £90.000-120.000 and a large manuscript of Janamsakhi from late 18th century Punjab, given for £25.000-35.000.

    The main object of curiosity in Bonham’s catalogue is an oil on canvas full-length portrait of an “African soldier“, given to Safavid Iran circa 1680-90, valued £100.000-150.000. The notice has been written by Dr Eleanor Sims, scholar of Safavid painting and who has published on a series of 21 full-length portraits on canvas she dates from the 1680s.6 I have personally never been convinced these 21 paintings were produced in the 17th century under Safavid rulers, I think they were made later, maybe during the 18th century during the reigns of Zand or Afshar dynasties. This is an unpopular opinion and no doubt some will disagree, but given what we know about painting production, artistic fashion and stylistic evolution of Pre-Modern Persian painting (16th-19th c. roughly), there is no good explanation for this production of full scale oil paintings, coming from nowhere and disappearing as it came before becoming highly popular under the Qajar dynasty in the 19th century.

    “African soldier” Bonhams 30.03.21 lot 28, £100-150.000

    Regarding the “African soldier”, I am obviously not convinced neither. Despite the accurate depiction of weapons described by Dr Sims, I do not believe this man to be a soldier, as the garb does not fit the representation of actual Safavid soldiers, and I do not believe he is from the 17th century as evoked above.

    Dr Sims worked with Christie’s in 2019 to attribute the paintings of a 15th century manuscript to the famous painter Behzad, in a demonstration that convinced no one since the manuscript remained unsold. Given this track record and the questions surrounding this portrait, it will be particularly interesting to see what price it will achieve.

    This Islamic week definitely carries the weight of the pandemic, and though the three catalogues also contain some interesting items, we can wonder if the pressure for spectacular lots haven’t forced the experts to cut some corners. Travel restrictions in 2020 haven’t particularly blocked buyers, but the quality of the catalogues might.

    Shah Abbas seated on a terrace, signed Mehdi al-Imami, Iran, 20th c. Bonhams 30.03.21, lot 16, £2.000-3.000
    Shah Abbas seated on a terrace, signed Mehdi al-Imami, Iran, 20th c. Bonhams 30.03.21, lot 16, £2-3.000
    1. “Le bilan 2020 du marché de l’art”, L’objet d’Art, 575 (Feb 2021), p. 76.
    2. Last time was the Portrait of a Nobleman signed Isma’il Jalayir, estimated £500.000-800.000 and sold £601.250. Christie’s 13.04.2010, lot 150.
    3. “A rediscovered Qajar painting from Bonnet House Museum Gardens leads Christie’s auction”, artdaily
    4. She has published many times on the topic of attributions to this calligrapher. See her latest book, Aux origines du classissisme. Calligraphes et bibliophiles au temps des dynasties mongoles (Brill, 2018), pp. 48-132 in particular.
    5. Thank you to Dr Adeline Laclau for her expertise on this page.
    6. Eleanor Sims, “Five Seventeenth-Century Persian Oil Paintings”, Persian and Mughal Art, London: 1976, pp. 223-32; “The “Exotic” Image: Oil-Painting in Iran in the Later 17th and the Early 18th Centuries”, in The Phenomenon of ‘Foreign’ in Oriental Art, Wiesbaden: 2006, pp. 135-40; “Six Seventeenth-century Oil Paintings from Safavid Persia”, in God is Beautiful and Loves Beauty: The Object in Islamic Art and Culture, New Haven: 2013, pp. 343, 346-47.
  • A Delayed Islamic Week full of Questions: overview of June 2020 results

    A Delayed Islamic Week full of Questions: overview of June 2020 results

    Unprecedented times, unprecedented auctions. The covid-19 pandemic has forced major houses to either move their auctions online, like Millon and Chiswick that successfully rose to the challenge, or push back to a later date, a choice made by Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Bonhams and Dreweatts. The slightly smaller Islamic week was finally held from the 9th to the 25th June and despite the many restrictions, among others on exhibitions and international travels, the results reflect the continuous support from collectors.1

    All the prices indicated below include Premium.

    Christie’s was supposed to open the week but moved their auction more or less last minute to the 25th June. From the relatively small catalogue of 205 lots, 133 lots were sold for a total of £13.361.000, a huge 123% increase compared to the last Islamic week in October 2019 and the second best result for the Islamic department of Christie’s London in the last 10 years.

    Timurid or Aqquyunlu Qur’an on Chinese paper, Iran, 15th century, Christie’s lot 29.

    The star of the auction was of course an extraordinary Qur’an on Chinese paper2, given to the Timurid or Aqquyunlu dynasties in Iran during the 15th century, sold for £7.016.250 (so more than half of the total results). Beside its aesthetic qualities and formidable state of preservation, this manuscript raised more than one eyebrow for the opacity of its provenance. It seems difficult to believe that a manuscript that exceptional had never been published, nor even seen before. For this reason, the single information given by the auction house that the manuscript was “bought by the current vendor’s father in London in the 1980s” was problematic in more ways than one. This type of “non-provenance provenance”3 is used by auction houses as a work-around of the UNESCO 1970 convention, stating that the sale of objects illegally removed from their country of origin after 1970 is prohibited (this doesn’t apply to artefacts removed before 1970).4 Auction houses use the date as a loophole through the vague mention that the object was bought in Europe or in the US after 1970, or came from “the collection of a gentleman”. In the case of this manuscript, nothing is said on how it reached London and it could have very much be stolen from the library in which it was initially preserved, but legally, Christie’s is covered. The manuscript seems legitimate but the complete absence of ownership marks, such as seals, led some to question its authenticity. Beside that, we can question the fact that the catalogue entry rapidly brushed aside the fact that a few folios were replaced at a later date, though it has a considerable importance to understand the provenance of the manuscript – a topic that was definitely not at the centre of Christie’s preoccupations. The later incipit could be Indian, the illuminations showing a Deccani influence (reading “from the region of the Deccan”). If confirmed, this could have helped greatly in tracing the history of the manuscript.
    The house hasn’t yet communicated the identity of the buyer, and with that price, we can easily assume it was bought by a collector or an institution in the Gulf, but we can only hope this Qur’an will be landed for exhibitions and further research.

    Beside the Qur’an, a few lots were expected to reach high prices, including the Portrait of Sultan Mehmet II with a dignitary, probably produced in Venice in Gentile Bellini workshop. Because Bellini is the most famous Italian painter making the travel to Istanbul in the 15th century, every painting that can be related to him is always put forward in auctions. Initially given at £400.000-600.000, it was sold £935.250.
    Other mentions, a Tuhfat al-ahrar copied by the calligraph Sultan Muhammad Nur at the beginning of the 16th century. Valued at £200.000-300.000, the manuscript, decorated with gorgeous borders, went for £923.250.

    Nur al-din ‘Abd al-rahman Jami, Tuhfat al-ahrar, signed Sultan Muhammad Nur, 16th century, Christie’s 25th June 2020, lot 53

    I was particularly waiting for the 12th and 13th centuries Kashan ceramics making a reappearance on the market after years of absence.5 Without surprise, the small moulded jug largely exceeded its valuation of £50.000-70.000 and reached £401.250, but surprisingly, the turquoise glazed reticulated cockerel-head pottery ewer, valued at £100.000-150.000 remained unsold. Given the price of the previous piece, it is hard to explain why this one didn’t find a buyer.

    Kashan turquoise glazed retuiculated cockerel-head pottery ewer, Christie’s lot 8, unsold.

    Also unsold was the Kashan turquoise glazed pottery pitcher presented by Sotheby’s on the 10th June. Valued £120.000-160.000, this ewer was one of the auction star items, and had a clear recent provenance, having been in Edward Binney III’s collection. Bonhams had two Kashan pieces, a classic brown, white and blue star tile with calligraphic borders sold for £3.812, and a nice lustre pottery bottle with figurative decoration, damaged but nicely restored, valued £2.000-4.000 and sold £2.805 (so just above the low estimate without the 25% Premium).

    These results are particularly interesting. While I was waiting for Kashan ceramic to come back with a bang, it seems that buyers were not particularly ready for it. The small moulded jug created interest for its aesthetic qualities and significance in the history of arts, the decoration announcing Iznik productions, centuries later, in several ways. Bonhams jug was inexpensive but clearly the cockerel-head ewer and Binney pitcher were too risky to invest in, especially after the several controversies of falsifications from a few years ago.

    An elegant feminine figure on Bonhams Kashan lustre pottery bottle, late 12th c., lot 63.

    Sotheby’s had a larger catalogue of 321 lots, of which 173 were sold for £3.656.000, a 33% decrease compared to the almost £5.5 millions made last October. Only a handful of items went above six figures, the 12th/ 13th c. Nasrid pyxis reaching £519.000. I was personally not convinced by the very early date given by Sotheby’s with the support Julian Raby, director of the Freer| Sackler Gallery in the Smithsonian, just because most of the known pieces of this production are attributed to the 15th century. The wood was dated with radiocarbon C-14 between 970 and 1032 with 95% confidence, but I am always a bit dubious when it comes to C-14 tests. Indeed, wood, like stone, can be reused generations later if preserved in the right conditions, and if it is a known fact for architecture (never date a building by its beams!), it can also be true for small items made of several pieces of wood joint together. That being said, 12th or 15th century, this pyxis is in remarkable conditions and its decor particularly rich.

    A rare Almohad or Nasrid Pyxis, Spain, maybe 12th/13th c., Sotheby’s lot 87.

    The second star item of Sotheby’s auction was a Diwan of Hafiz copied by the calligraph Shaykh Mahmud Pir Budaqi in 867/ 1462 and dedicated to the library of the prince and keen collector Pir Budaq (d. 1466). This manuscript is of great significance for the history of Islamic arts so the selling price, £375.000, didn’t really come as a surprise. The narcissus, previously discussed on this blog, went for £10.000.

    Sotheby’s also presented three Abbasid potteries, two of which were sold within their range, and one Samanid dish unsold. Like Kashan ceramics from the 12th and 13th centuries. Abbasi Iraqi pieces from the 9th/ 10th c. and Samanid Central Asian from the 10th c. represent a gamble, as well as gold dinars and silver dirhams, such the 18 lots presented by Bonhams on the 11th June. Their second biggest lot was an Umayyad gold dinar from the reign of the caliph ‘Abd al-Malik, fifth caliph of the dynasty, (685-705) dated 77/ 696-97. I personally love numismatic, though it is one of the most driest fields of study, for coins truly constitute prints of history. This one is particularly significant, having been minted less than 10 years after the foundation of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Unfortunately, the estimation £100.000-150.000 was too high for collectors, and overall only six of the eighteen lots of coins were sold.

    Bonhams sold 100 of the 247 lots presented, for a total of £1,368,681.25, a small 4.42% decrease compared to last October. As previously, the auction house focused on Indian and Sikh arts, an orientation demonstrated by their main lot, a gem-set gold forehead pendant (chand-tikka) from the collection of Maharani Jindan Kaur (1817-63), wife of Maharajah Ranjit Singh (1780-1839). What a lady she was! The short biography given by Bonhams gives a glimpse into the complexity of her life and the immense strength she held.6 The forehead from her collection, quite simple but refined, and of historical importance, was sold £187.562.

    It has been particularly interesting to follow these spring/ summer auctions, whether moved online or postponed. In both cases, collectors have responded well to the changes, though Sotheby’s results were lower than expected. We can hope that autumn auctions will go ahead without too much trouble, but so far 2020 has been full of (really bad) surprises. In the meantime, stay safe and please wear a mask in public!

    Nur al-din ‘Abd al-Rahman Jami, Tuhfat al-ahrar, Iran, probably Tabriz, 947/ 1540-41 (detail), Sotheby’s lot 29, sold £47.500
    1. For a presentation of the auctions, see my article for lot-art.com.
    2. Edit June 2021: The catalogue entry for this Qur’an has been removed from Christie’s website.
    3. Term coined by Dr. Stephennie Mulder on Twitter.
    4. You can read the full text here. You can also read my article on recent illegal looting in Syria and the impact on the market here.
    5. Named after the city of Kashan in Iran, located south of Tehran, in which a very large centre of production was particularly active during the Seldjuk dynasty rule, roughly 11th- 12th centuries. It continued to be very active until the end of the Safavid dynasty rule in the 18th century.
    6. You can also go read this article on The Guardian about her.
  • Happy New Year 2019!

    Happy New Year 2019!

    This is with some disbelief that I wish you all a very happy new year 2019. Disbelief that 2018 is already passed and that we are already turning the page. What a year it has been!

    For me, 2018 meant the starting point of my freelance activities, and of course the creation of this website. Coming at the end of a two years break after getting my PhD, 2018 seemed like the right time for returning to what I know and love: writing about Islamic Arts.

    I did not think that I would be able to find people ready to share their passion with me this quickly but sometime the stars just align the right way. For this I wish to thank, among others, Millon & Associés and lot-art.com for giving me opportunities to collaborate on several occasions, but also the numerous collectors, merchants, art historians and enthusiasts who encouraged the launch of my activities.

    If you are ready these lines, thank you.

    I do not know yet what 2019 will precisely be made of, but I am excited to discover it. My biggest project will be to rework and publish my doctoral dissertation. Though it was recognized as a work of high quality by the eminent scholars who composed my jury, it will still need some in-depth work to be actualized and synthesized in a (readable) book.
    As well, I wish to develop my writing activities further with new projects and hopefully I’ll be able to communicate more on that soon.

    So I wish you all a very happy new year, I hope it will be full of joys and discoveries for you and your loved ones, and I hope to see you back on this blog very soon!

    Women celebrating holi, detail of a painting from the Gentil collection. Lucknow or Faizabad, 18th c. BNF (OD44fol, fol. 44)