This afternoon, the most coveted lot of the Arts of the Islamic World sale was a portrait of a well-dressed youth, Nazar ‘Ali Beg, dated 1674-5AD (Lot 168) – an important example of single-figure portraits by Mu'in Musavvir, one of the greatest and most prolific Persian artists of the seventeenth century. Formerly in the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller, it met with significant demand to sell for £250,000 / $321,575 – more than doubling its pre-sale estimate of £80,000-120,000. A further example of strong prices for fine miniature painting, a rare illustration to the ‘Bhagavata Purana’ (Lot 186) brought £225,000 / $289,418, the first time a painting from the celebrated Indian series has been offered at auction since 1992.