Christie’s to focus on Islamic and Indian Worlds in its London sale

Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer

Christie’s has announced the auction of the Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds including Oriental Rugs and Carpets taking place live at Christie’s King Street, London, on April 27. This season the sale presents a range of 240 works of art featuring examples of manuscripts, paintings, ceramics, metalwork and carpets, dating from the 9th to the 19th centuries.

The sale boasts an array of Persian manuscripts and paintings from a number of single owner private collections. One of two masterpieces leading the sale is a Timurid painting, Baysunghur in the Guise of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Timurid Herat, first half 15th century. It captures the regal grandeur of a royal court scene, and is one of the earliest depictions of what later became a popular subject in Persian painting.

Another highlight is a Zand painting, arguably the best by the artist Muhammad Baqir, who was one of the most celebrated artists active between 1740 and 1800. A pair of Safavid album pages, one with the calligraphy signed Sultan Ali Mashhadi, Timurid Herat, late 15th or early 16th century, Persian poetry on paper, is also part of the sale. The Turkish section includes examples of Ottoman ceramics and a number of specimens of Iznik pottery. A small collection of ceramics from Kutahya, a kiln site that gained in popularity after the decline of Iznik, are also part of the sale.

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The highlight of this section is A Lavender Ground Iznik Pottery Jug, Ottoman Turkey, circa 1570. It is a good example of a rare and visually striking group of Iznik pottery that was made for a short period around 1570 and which is typified by a coloured slip decoration that covers the bodies of the vessels. Another highlight from Ottoman Turkey is a Silk and Metal-Thread Banner (sanjak), Ottoman Istanbul, AH 1225/1810-11 CE. It is a rare survival of a type that would have been carried into battles in the farthest reaches of the Ottoman empire and often survive now only in European museum collections, taken as war booty.

Continuing along a similar theme, the sale features a number of strong examples of arms and armour including a Jade-hilted Dagger (kard), Ottoman Turkey, scabbard and mounts 16th Century, decoration and hilt later, blade dated AH 1220/1805-6 CE.

An Iznik jug is part of the sale (left) and A Deccani rug from the sale.

The sale also includes an Illuminated Firman, or Royal Decree, of Abdulhamid I (R.1774-89) Ottoman Istanbul, Turkey, dated 30 Rajab AH 1193/13 August 1779 CE. The subject concerns the appointment of the Office of the Sweeper (ferrashet) of the Tomb of the Prophet (PBUH) in Madinah. Leading the Indian works on paper is a Mughal painting of A Royal Cavalcade of Hunters and Chenchu couple stalking deer by night attributed to Fath Chand, Mughal India, late 17th century. The painting belongs a group which depict the juxtaposition of the tribal and royal hunt. The nocturnal landscape in which the scene takes place is one that gained in popularity in the Mughal court, probably due to the fascination with European chiaroscuro effects.

A group of bejewelled Mughal treasures showcase the splendours of the Indian courts during the 16th century. It includes a Gem-Set Nephrite Jade Backscratcher, Mughal Indian, circa 1750-65. Sara Plumbly, Head of Department, Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds commented: “The April sale brings together an exciting and wide range of works of art from across the Islamic and Indian Worlds.

“Of particular note is a number of private collections across a variety of fields - from Persian and Indian manuscripts and paintings to Ottoman ceramics. We are particularly excited to offer a very important group of Mughal jewelled objects as well as a number of Persian paintings from the 15th to the 19th centuries.”

The forthcoming sale includes 96 decorative antique Oriental rugs and carpets, woven in cities, villages or nomadic encampments from all along the silk route. The highlight of the sale is a Anatolian ‘Phoenix In Octagon’ rug woven in the late 15th/early 16th century. One of only 18 examples to survive of the Seljuk and early Ottoman ‘Animal Carpet’ group, the carpet is said to be unique, in that it is the only one of its kind to survive bearing the mythical figure of the phoenix.

Carpets and luxury textiles have been symbols of power, status and great wealth for millennia, but due to their use and relative fragility, have not survived in great numbers. As a result, the importance of classical paintings for knowledge of early carpets cannot be overstated, as they provide context for these weavings and allows one a glimpse of how they were traded, used and valued by their wealthy owners. Other carpets of note in the sale are two 18th century rugs woven in the Deccan in India. Due to strong trading ties with the Dutch East India Company, the rugs were traded with Japan where they were highly prized.

Louise Broadhurst, Specialist and Christie’s International Head of Rugs and Carpets said that “the theme of early eastern carpets that appear in the paintings of the early Renaissance and later Old Masters, is a narrative that helps us contextualise these precious works of art, and appreciate them through the eyes of our predecessors.”

The Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds including Oriental Rugs and Carpets view and exhibition opens to the public April 22-26 at Christie’s, King Street, London.