London Islamic art sales set auction record
Published April 10th, 2008
A late 12th-century iron key to the Ka’aba in Makkah sold for £9.2mn ($18.1mn) with fees, about 20 times its estimated price, at Sotheby’s in London yesterday. it had been estimated to sell for £400,000 to £600,000.
The key, which is 37cms (15in) long, was formerly in a private collection in the Lebanon and dated from 1179-1180. It was bought anonymously and is the second-earliest of only 58 known examples. Others are in European and Middle Eastern museums.
Sotheby’s said the sale raised a total of £21.5mn with fees, which was a record for an Islamic-art sale by the auction house.
A 14th-century gold and enamel belt buckle from Moorish Spain sold for £983,700 after commission to a telephone bidder. It had been estimated to fetch more than £600,000.
Christie’s also took £11.8mn in an auction yesterday. A leaf from a 7th-century copy of the Qur’an on vellum fetched a record £2.5mn ($4.92mn) with fees against an estimate of £100,000-£150,000, setting a new world auction record for any Islamic manuscript.
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