Islamic Works of Art

An auction titled China 500 Years held by Mayfair orientalist firm Plakas (29% buyer’s premium) on March 19 included elements of two rare Kangxi (1662-1722) blue and white porcelain wall sconces. They were estimated at £2000-3000 but contested to £17,000.

Produced in Ottoman Turkey between the 15th and 17th centuries, Iznik pottery experienced a sudden and passionate surge of Western interest in the mid 19th century.

The world of Islamic art has lost one of its most beloved sons with the passing of Bashir Mohamed, a true visionary in his field who possessed the intuitive spirit of a hunter and the soul of a historian.

An ‘exceptional and newly discovered’ Mamluk manuscript copy of an Arabic text on hippiatry (equine medicine) was the highlight of Lyon & Turnbull’s latest Islamic and Indian art sale in London.

A selection of upcoming auction highlights

Azca Auctions in Hammersmith, west London, has announced new recruits following the departure of the founding directors earlier this summer.

A rare Iznik pottery tile made for the Çini li Hamam bathhouse during the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent sold for £195,000 at Lyon & Turnbull.

A selection of lots from upcoming auctions held at the same time as Asian Art in London

Auction houses and dealers have launched a partnership for this year’s Asian Art in London event allowing exhibitions to be held in salerooms at the three major firms for the first time.

Islamic artefact about to appear at auction was once part of V&A collection

The sale of Indian and Islamic art at Olympia Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) in London on June 5 included two fine private collections of Iznik pottery.

Father and son collection stars as centrepiece of 150-lot inaugural Islamic and Indian art offering

London has a new boutique auction house with the launch this month of Azca Auctions in Hammersmith, west London.

Mehmet Keskiner is the founder of Kent Antiques specialising in Islamic and Indian works of art as well as 19th century Orientalist paintings. Keskiner runs Kent Antiques from a gallery in Queen’s Gate by appointment only with his brother Dr Philip Bora Keskiner and his wife Melis Aran Keskiner.

The extensive auctions at Schuler (23/20/16% buyer’s premium) in Zürich always contain at least one truly spectacular result and the latest three-day sale was no exception.