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Princess Mavrokordato and the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople, attributed to Jean-Baptiste Hilaire (1753-1822), late 18th century
Sotheby’s Arts of the Islamic World & India auction brings together works spanning over a millennium, from early Koranic manuscripts and medieval metalwork to Persian paintings and Indian miniatures.
One of the most remarkable groups in the sale is a selection of early Koranic manuscripts, headed by an exceptionally rare ninth-century illuminated Koran juz’ in Kufic script on vellum. There is also a manuscript treatise on music from the Karamanid period, produced in 1410 by Yusuf Mevlevi Kırşehirî.
The sale will also offer delights from the decorative arts, including a late 13th-century Ilkhanid brass astrolabe from Persia and an engraved 14th-century Karamanid brass jug. A large Hispano-Moresque lustreware bowl from Manises, Valencia (c.1425) bears a delicate wading bird beneath its shimmering glaze, and exemplifies the extraordinary refinement of Islamic-influenced ceramics produced in medieval Spain.
Lot number: 14
A large Hispano-Moresque lustre pottery bowl
Spain, Valencia, Manises, c.425
A long-beaked wading bird is painted in deep cobalt blue at the centre of the present dish, standing in profile facing left against a background of six-petalled flowerheads and a dotted pattern in copper lustre. The same design in lustre can be seen across the broad rim of the dish, with cobalt-blue sprays at left, right and bottom, and the word ‘Senora’ in ornate Gothic minuscule letters.
Estimate: £200,000–£300,000
Lot number: 3
A richly illuminated book of prayers including al-Jazuli's Dala'il al-Khayrat, copied by Osman known as Damad Ibrahim al-'Afif (known as Osman 'the Mad')
Turkey, Ottoman, dated 1210 AH/1795-96 AD
Estimate: £25,000–£35,000
Lot number: 40
An illustrated double-sided folio from the Nahj al-Faradis: recto with 'To the First Heaven', verso with 'Prophet Muhammad meets the Prophet Adam'
Herat, Timurid, circa 1466
Estimate: £800,00–£120,000,000
Princess Mavrokordato and the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople, attributed to Jean-Baptiste Hilaire (1753-1822), late 18th century
