Arts of the Islamic World & India

A fine silver-inlaid Qajar armour set, Persia, second half 19th century

UK: Greenford Park Warehouse

Estimate

10,000 - 15,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

comprising a helmet, shield and arm guard, each densely chiselled with a naturalistic floral ground including small birds, borders overlaid with gold, key decorative elements inlaid with carved silver, the borders inscribed with Persian verse, the shield and arm guard padded and lined with red textile, the helmet and arm guard with original butted mail

29cm. (helmet excluding mail); 40cm. (shield); 34cm. (arm guard excluding mail)

Please note that there may be restrictions on the import of property of Iranian origin into the USA and some or all member countries of the Gulf Co-operation Council. Any buyers planning to import property of Iranian origin into any of these countries should satisfy themselves of the relevant import regime. Sotheby's will not assist buyers with the shipment of such items into the USA or the GCC. In addition, FedEx and US courier services will no longer carry Iranian-origin goods to any location. Any shipment services would need to be provided by a Fine Art shipping company.

Philippe Missillier Collection no.68C

H. Ricketts and P. Missillier, Splendeur des Armes Orientales, Paris: Acte-Expo, 1988, p.65, no.95

A typical armour set produced in nineteenth-century Iran consists of a helmet, shield, and single vambrace. Although such armour was largely obsolete on the battlefield by this time, they continued to be produced to be used in Muharram commemorations (Annabelle Collinet, ‘Performance Objects of Muharram in Iran: A Story through Steel’, Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World I, Leiden, Brill, 2020, pp.226-247). A similar set was sold in these rooms, 1 May 2019, lot 213.

An extremely rare illustrated manuscript of the Ka'banameh (A history of the Ka'ba) by Abdulrahman Gubari (d.1566), signed by Ahmad [...] al-Khatib, Kaposvár, Hungary, dated Dhu'l-Hijjah 1080 AH/April-May 1670 AD

Estimate: 120,000 - 180,000 GBP

Ibn Battuta (d.1377), Tuhfat an-Nuzzar fi ghara'ib al-amsar wa 'aja'ib asfar, a volume from The Travels, North Africa, 17th century

Estimate: 30,000 - 50,000 GBP

A large illuminated Qur'an, Persia, Shiraz, Safavid, 16th century

Estimate: 120,000 - 180,000 GBP

Abu Mansur Mawhub ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Khadr al-Jawaliqi (d.1144 AD), Kitab takmilat islah ma taghlat fihi al-'amma, on Arabic grammar, Near East, circa 1300 AD

Estimate: 40,000 - 60,000 GBP

Ibn al-Shatir (d.1375), Nihayat al-su’al fi tashih al-usul, on astronomy, Egypt or Syria, Mamluk, 14th century

Estimate: 150,000 - 250,000 GBP

Abu Muhammad Makki ibn Abi Talib al-Qaysi al-Qayrawani al-Andalusi al-Qurtubi, al-kashf 'an wujuh al-qira'at al-sab' wa 'ilaliha wa hijajiha ('Unveiling the Aspects of the Seven Recitations'), Near East, circa 1100 AD

Estimate: 30,000 - 50,000 GBP

Al-Tughra'i (d.1121 AD), Kitab mafatih al-rahma wa asrar al-hikma ('The keys of mercy and secrets of wisdom', on chemistry and alchemy), volume two, North Africa, Morocco, 19th century

Estimate: 30,000 - 50,000 GBP

An illuminated Qur'an, Persia, ⁠Safavid, 16th century

Estimate: 40,000 - 60,000 GBP

A manuscript on fortune-telling including Ikhtiyarat al-ayyam (A treatise on hemerology, from the sayings of Ja'far al-Sadiq and the Prophet Daniel), commissioned for Catholic Maronite Khawaja Yusuf ibn Khawaja Antoine Andrea, copied by Gabriel son of Michael Asfour, probably Northern Lebanon, 1 Tammuz (July) 1778 AD

Estimate: 30,000 - 50,000 GBP

An exceptionally rare and important Qur'an manuscript with eight tafasir with the combined title al-Itqan fi 'Ilm al-Qur'an ('Perfection in Qur'anic Science') from the library of Akbar (r. 1556-1605), India, Mughal, late 16th century

Estimate: 40,000 - 60,000 GBP