Sotheby's are delighted to announce the launch of 'India and Islamic Week' at Sotheby's London featuring three sales: Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art, Art of Imperial India, and Arts of the Islamic World. From 3 to 7 October the entire London Sotheby's will be devoted to Indian and Islamic art. During this time Sotheby's will be running a dedicated Indian Afternoon Tea in association with Newby teas at our Café. Bringing together manuscripts, paintings and works of art created under Islamic patronage over eleven centuries, Arts of the Islamic World provides an opportunity for collectors and institutions to acquire beautiful and sought-after pieces.
Among the highlights is an extremely well-preserved leaf from a 16th-century copy of Sa'di's Gulistan, attributed to the famed courtly artist Mahmud Muzahhib. This rare discovery was formerly in the collection of the Dukes of Northumberland at Alnwick castle and has never before been offered at auction. Also coming from the same collection is the unparalled Arabic-English Lexicon of Edward William Lane, the famed 19th-century Orientalist and Egyptologist. Representing thirty-four years' work, offered for sale is the final printer's copy in Lane's own hand, bound in forty volumes, accompanied by a set of ten extremely rare Arabic manuscripts.
An exquisite silver and gilt-copper casket from 14th-century Nasrid Spain is a further rare discovery, with a characteristic geometric design that can be traced throughout many media. From further east come a spectacular Ottoman jade and gem-set sabre and belt-buckle, an oil portrait of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent by a follower of Bellini, and three monumental lustre calligraphic tiles from Kashan, demonstrating the impressive architectural designs of thirteenth century Persia.