Islamic Works of Art

FOR more than one reason, one might have expected the latest series of Islamic works of art sales in London to be a downbeat affair. Added to the prevailing economic gloom, this could surely be a sector of the market where the war in Iraq and its aftermath would have a depressive effect on prices.

THE war in Iraq does not appear to have had any obvious effect on the latest series of lslamic sales, held in London last week. There was still an international turnout for the three main auctions of Islamic works of art and, in a field usually characterised by selective buying, the selling rates were not especially different, with a take-up in lot terms ranging from just over half the content at Bonhams and Christie’s King Street to just over two thirds at Sotheby’s.

This unusual looking piece from Ottoman Turkey, pictured right, provided one of the highlights of Bonhams’ Islamic sale on April 24 when it sold for £40,000.

Glass from Islamic Lands by Stefano Carboni, published by Thames & Hudson in association with The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait National Museum. ISBN 0500976066. £40 pb

Even without the worldwide crises of the last two months, the market for Islamic works of art has always been volatile, subject to price polarisation and a degree of selectiveness.

An 8th/9th century Syrian alabaster column capital provided the highest price for an object in London's spring Islamic series of sales.