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.

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”.

Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art: 18 October

The Khosrovani-Diba Collection: 19 October

Arts of the Islamic World: 19 October

20th Century Art / Middle East: 20 October