A rare and exquisite Islamic figural tile, which dates to the Ottoman Empire, will attract serious collectors when it comes up for sale in Devon next week. It was brought in to Rendells Fine Art, Stonepark, Ashburton by a client believing it to be Greek. However, cataloguer and valuer David Ship instantly recognised it as a highly prized Islamic tile, circa late 16th/early 17th century.

Read More: Rare Islamic Tile to be Auctioned in Devon

A unique mother-of-pearl and black lac overlaid wood tray has set a new world record of £962,500 for a piece of this type, selling to a bidder in the room for well over ten times its estimate in Bonhams’ Islamic and Indian Art sale on 6th October.

Read More: Mother-of-Pearl Tray Makes World Record £962,500 in Bonhams’ Islamic and Indian Art Sale

In order to celebrate the rich traditions of Indian and Islamic art, Sotheby’s has mounted ‘Indian and Islamic Week’, a high profile series of public exhibitions and three dedicated auctions presenting the works of renowned artists and craftsmen from the Indian Subcontinent and the Islamic world. These exciting initiatives will take place at Sotheby’s in London from 3 – 8 October 2014. The sales comprise Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art on 7 October, and Art of Imperial India and Arts of the Islamic World on 8 October. The combined estimate across the three sales is £11,200,000-16,000,000.

Read More: Sotheby’s Celebrates Indian and Islamic Art Through an Exciting Series of Exhibitions, Auctions and Events

The Bonhams Islamic and Indian art auction returns to London in its second installment of the year on October 7. This sale covers an extensive range of art and artifacts dating from the 9th to the 19th century. One of the key collections that is on offer this October comes from the coffers of a Swiss collector, and comprises of rare Persian artifacts originating from the time of the Qajar dynasty (1781 to 1925).

Read More: Rare Persian Ornaments Highlight of Bonhams Islamic Art Sale

One of the most exceptional and comprehensive collections of Persian Qajar Orders and Decorations ever to come to public auction forms a key part of Bonhams Indian and Islamic sale on October 7 in London. The collection, compiled by a private Swiss Collector, is estimated to sell for a total of £600,000 to £800,000. The product of nearly half a century of collecting, the present offering has been painstakingly assembled to encompass the full gamut of royal, civilian, political, military, and familial orders issued by Qajar Monarchs during their rule of Persia between 1797 to 1923. The focal point of the present collection is a rare and illustrious group of gem-set orders and portraits depicting the great Qajar rulers themselves; opulent, ostentatious and flamboyant, the monarchs personified the grandiose, regal aesthetic that characterized Qajar Persia.

Read More: Single Owner Collection of Qajar Orders and Decorations Lead Bonhams Sale of Islamic Art

Objects tracing the rich cultural heritage of the Islamic and Indian worlds will be offered in a series of three sales at Christie’s in London during Islamic Art Week which runs from 7-10 October. Among the 700 lots on offer within the sales there is particular strength among the works of art from the Mughal, Safavid and Ottoman Empires. The sales offer an insight into the diversity of the religious, social and geographical influences on works of art and the craftsmen, artists and patrons who created them.

Read More: Sumptuous Objects at Christie’s Islamic Art Week

Bonhams second sale this year of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art in London on October 7th features a variety of masterpieces from across the region. Building on the success of the April sale, which saw 86% of lots sold by value and featured buyers from over 12 different countries, Bonhams continues its strategy of broadening the market by presenting a carefully curated selection of works from the regions standout artists to a growing international audience. The October sale is led by two extraordinary works from Iran’s most celebrated modern artists, Sohrab Sepehri and Bahman Mohasses; the works come from the collection of perhaps the most lauded scholars of Iranian studies, Dr Ehsan Yarshater, (Hagop Kevorkian Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Columbia University) and are sold to benefit of one of the most ambitious academic projects undertaken in the field of Middle Eastern studies this century, Encyclopaedia Iranica.

Read More: Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Masterpieces for Sale at Bonhams, London, in October

A rare and early Iznik pottery bowl dated around 1510 from Turkey’s Ottoman Empire has sold for over £1.4 million at auction. The white bowl decorated in two shades of blue with Cyprus trees and cartouches was sold by Christies in London to an anonymous bidder setting a new auction record for Iznik pottery.

Read More: Rare Ottoman Bowl Breaks World Record at Auction

An important painting of a Great Indian fruit bat or flying fox (Pteropus giganteus) with its 1.5 meter wingspan sold for £458,500 at Bonhams Islamic and Indian Art sale in London yesterday [8th April]. The sale achieved a total of £4.5 million. This pen and ink, watercolor with gum arabic, heightened with bodycolour, on watermarked paper, from the Calcutta Collection of Lady Impey and painted by the artist Bhawani Das, had been estimated to sell for £80,000-£120,000, but its final price was four times higher than expected.

Read More: Painting of Fruit Bat from Impey Album Leads Bonhams Islamic and Indian Art Auction

The magnificent and extremely rare life-size Qajar royal portrait of Fath ‘Ali Shah attended by a prince, attributed to Mihr ‘Ali, circa 1820 CE, sold for £2,994,500 (inclusive of buyers premium) at Sotheby’s ‘Arts of the Islamic World’ auction today [9th April 2014]. A round of applause greeted the fall of the hammer at £2.6 million, a bid executed by Edward Gibbs, Head of Department, and Chairman, Middle East & India, acting on behalf of an anonymous telephone buyer.

Read More: Royal Portrait of Fath ‘Ali Shah

Bonhams will sell three stunning images from The Fraser Album, discovered amongst the papers of this Scottish family in 1979, at its next auction of Indian and Islamic art on 8 April 2014 in London. The Album consists of more than ninety watercolours of breathtaking quality, which provide an extraordinary portrait of life in and around Delhi in the early 19^th Century. This was an area which was relatively unknown to the British at that date, with Mughal control ceded to them only in 1803 and the Emperor nominally in power.

Read More: Pictures from the Fraser Album to go on Sale in London

See also: Rare 19th Century Indian Paintings up for Auction

The Arts of the Islamic World auction to be held at Sotheby’s, London, on April 9th 2014 is led by a magnificent Qajar royal portrait of Fath ‘Ali Shah. Estimated at £1,500,000 – £2,500,000, this life-size portrait is one of sixteen that are recorded, of which only four are present in Western museum collections. Fath ‘Ali Shah was the pre-eminent Qajar emperor of Persia and, as a key patron of the arts, he commissioned a number of monumental portraits, using these images as tools of propaganda, immortalising his rule. This painting is attributed to Mihr ‘Ali, one of the preferred painters of the Qajar court.

Read More: Royal Portrait of Fath ‘Ali Shah to be Offered at Auction in London

See video: Anatomy of an Artwork – A Qajar Royal Portrait

Rare arts from the Islamic World including a map of nineteenth century Mecca and an Ottoman metal-thread curtain are to be auctioned. Sotheby’s Arts of the Islamic World sale [on April 9th, 2014] will bring to the market an exquisite selection of paintings, manuscripts, textiles, ceramics, weaponry and rugs. Spanning over 1000 years, these objects offer a remarkable testimony to the astonishing scope of artistic production in the lands under Islamic patronage from Spain to China.

Read More: Islamic Art Dating Back 1000 Years to be Auctioned at Sotheby’s

Part of a “treasure trove” of rare Indian paintings, commissioned by two Inverness brothers in Delhi in the early 19th century, are expected to fetch close to £100,000 when they go under the hammer at a leading London auction house next month. Bonhams today announced they are sell three stunning images from The Fraser Album, discovered amongst the papers of a Scottish family in 1979, at its next auction of Indian and Islamic art on 8th April 2014.

Read More: Rare 19th Century Indian Paintings up for Auction

Islamic Art Week at Christie’s London will feature four sales which will take place from 7–11 October 2013 at King Street and South Kensington. The sales offer both new and established collectors the opportunity to acquire important and beautiful works with exceptional provenance. On 8 October 2013 the Oriental Rugs & Carpets sale at King Street will feature the rare and magnificent Vanderbilt Mughal “star-lattice” carpet, which was owned by American industrialist Cornelius Vanderbilt II and remained in his family for nearly a century (estimate: £1.5 – 2 million).

Read More: Islamic Art Week at Christie’s London, 7-11 October 2013

It’s always a mystery how so many ancient and priceless art objects are floating around, more than enough to keep auctioneers busy and profitable. Remember the bejewelled sword of Tipu Sultan that was bought at an auction in 2004 by Vijay Mallya for the equivalent of R1.5 crore and brought back to India? Well, there’s another one that has come up for auction by Sotheby’s. The actual auction takes place in London on 9th October and the items for sale offer a unique insight into Muslim history and culture, encompassing almost 1,400 years of decorative art produced in lands under Islamic patronage from Spain to India.

Read More: The Sword of Tipu Sultan

Charles Saatchi has chosen a new online-only auctioneer to sell works from his collection of Middle Eastern contemporary art this month, rather than a more familiar live auction at Sotheby’s, Christie’s or Phillips. The 15 works, valued at more than £250,000, were exhibited in Unveiled: New Art from the Middle East, held at the Saatchi Gallery in 2009. The sale is being staged by the Auction Room, which was formed earlier this year by Sotheby’s former managing director of Europe, George Bailey, and is directed by Janet Rady, an independent expert in Middle Eastern art.

Read More: Charles Saatchi to Sell Collection of Middle Eastern Contemporary Art Online

A very rare and fine illustrated manuscript of the Kitab-i Bahriye based on the original version of the great Ottoman admiral, geographer and cartographer Piri Reis (d.1554), sold for £326,500 at Sotheby’s, London, yesterday [May 14th, 2013]. The Kitab-i Bahriye (Book of navigation or maritime matters) is an important portolano or book of sailing directions.

Read More: Manuscript of Piri Reis’ Kitab-i Bahriye sells for £326,500 at Sotheby’s

Featuring only 22 lots, Sotheby’s latest sale of Orientalist art was a small affair but one that definitely packed a big punch. Achieving a total of £5.3m hammer, it overshot the pre-sale estimate of £2.6m-3.8m which meant it was among the best performing auctions in this sector in recent years.

Read More: Orientalist Sale in London Packs a Big Punch

Jamming into a single auction anything that can be called art from the 7th to the 19th century is not a recipe for coherence. Broaden your geographical sweep to start in Spain and end up in China, and things get worse. You may dub it “Islamic & Indian Art” like Bonhams on Tuesday [April 23rd], or “Arts of the Islamic World” like Sotheby’s on Wednesday [April 24th], but you still won’t gain in clarity.

Read More: Clarity Vanishes in Big ‘Islamic Art’ Auctions

Two rare Iznik bottles from the golden age of the Ottoman Empire sold at Bonhams Indian and Islamic sale today, April 23rd 2013, for a total of £758,500 – with one making £547,250 a new world record for an Iznnik bottle and the second bottle selling for £301,250. The sale made a total of £3.6m.

Read More: World Record at Bonhams for Ottoman Masterpiece

Specialist London auctioneers Morton & Eden will sell three of the earliest and rarest Islamic gold coins in a sale of Important Coins of the Islamic World on Monday April 22nd 2013. Struck only a few decades after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, the coins tell the story of how the early Muslims created one of the largest and most influential empires the world has ever seen. Together, they are expected to sell for more than £350,000. Two of the three coins look like Byzantine solidi and bear the portraits of Christian Byzantine emperors who ruled in the early decades of the 7th century AD. However, closer inspection reveals subtle differences from the thousands of regular solidi which survive.

Read More: Important Coins of the Islamic World

In 2012 an extremely generous benefactor donated a very impressive group of Islamic and Indian works of art on paper to benefit the University of Oxford. Following the success of Part I and Part II, Christie’s is pleased to announce details of Part III of A Private Collection Donated to Benefit the University of Oxford which will take place on April 25th, 2013. Proceeds of the sale will benefit the University of Oxford where they will be used to support a curatorship at the Bodleian Libraries as well as a post in Sasanian Studies. Comprising 56 lots the collection includes works on paper from the Islamic and Indian worlds. The collection is expected to realise in excess of £1 million. This is a great opportunity for collectors to acquire extraordinary works and contribute to this philanthropic endeavor, supporting the world-renowned University of Oxford.

Read More: Important Islamic Manuscripts and Miniatures from a Private Colletion to be Offered at Christie’s, London