ARTS OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD
Sotheby’s Arts of the Islamic World auction on 25 April covers myriad works of art produced under the aegis of multiple Islamic Empires, spread over three continents over a period of over 1,200 years. Prominent among the works are exceptionally rare pieces hailing from prestigious European private collections, including beautiful ceramic wares, refined Indian miniature paintings and Arab, Persian and Turkish manuscripts. A unique blue and white pilgrim flask with animals, Turkey, circa 1545-55 (est. 60,000-80,000) Bearing testimony to the breadth of experimentation of Iznik potters, this ground-breaking and unique blue and white flask is the only known example produced in this distinctive shape. Decorated in the elegant blue and turquoise of the mid- sixteenth century and adorned with a fantastical mix of animals, it is one of the earliest instances in which this popular design first appeared. The origin of this form can be traced back to pilgrimages from the Bronze Age onwards, to the advent of Islam and military life. This example is interesting in the unmistakeable desire of the potter to achieve the difficult feat of an organic form matching the leather prototypes. Although the decorative painterly forms recall the ‘animal chase’ tradition seen on Persian metalwork, alluding to the courtly pastime of the hunt, this style is likely to have been derived from Balkan silverwork was popular during the reigns of Ahmed I, Osman II and Murad IV. The closest comparisons to this Iznik flask are also the only known examples of their kind – a glass pilgrim bottle from the Mamluk era held in the British Museum and a metalwork silver-inlaid canteen attributed to mid-thirteenth century Syria, which is at the Smithsonian Institute. A carved jade and gilt metal Qur’an stand, India, circa 19th century (est. £4,000-6,000) Qur’an stands worked from jade and other hardstones are extremely rare, with many held in museum collections. Created to hold large Qur’ans in both mosques and tombs, the legs were designed as lobed archways reminiscent of Mughal architecture. Two early copies of Euclid’s Elements and Ptolemy’s Almagest, Egypt and Persia, 13th century (est. £200,000-300,000 each) Owing to the medieval Arabic scientific tradition during the Islamic Golden Age, many important Greek texts have been preserved and transmitted to future generations through the centuries. These extremely rare early works were both copied in the thirteenth century, in North Africa and Persia respectively, and bear witness to this important phase of conveying Classical knowledge. Ptolemy’s Almagest is arguably the most influential text on Arabic astronomy. The Greek original was first translated into Arabic by al-Hajaj ibn Yousef ibn Mattar by the order of the Caliph al-Ma'mun during the first half of the ninth century. The ‘Elements’ by Euclid is considered one of the pillars of mathematics. This finely written copy is densely illustrated with finely-executed diagrams and marginal notes, combining elegant naskh script for the main text and thuluth for the titles. Eugène Girardet, Evening Prayers, oil on canvas (est. £150,000-200,000 / $ 210,000-280,000)

THE ORIENTALIST SALE
Travelling from America and Europe to the lands known collectively in the 18th and 19th centuries as the Orient, artists aimed to capture sites, cultures and the bright desert light that few had experienced before. Orientalist art sheds light on the history of these lands from a time when photography was in its infancy and figurative art was not traditionally practised. Scenes of prayer occupy a central position in nineteenth-century Orientalist art. Evening Prayers is not only a splendid evocation of the North African desert, but affords a fascinating glimpse into the rituals of Muslim worship. In the cool shade cast by the building behind them, a group of men on a rooftop face Mecca in prayer. In 1874, Girardet embarked for Morocco, then travelled to Tunisia and Algeria, for which he developed a particular fondness. Charles Wilda, A Souk in Cairo, 1887, oil on panel (est. £120,000-180,000 / $168,000-252,000) Painted in 1887, this street view of Cairo is a striking example of the nineteenth-century Orientalist views which opened up a new world to European viewers. The hustle and bustle of women carrying water jugs and snake charmers, rendered with photographic realism, brilliantly evoked the souks and streets of a city beyond the reach of many. In the background, the striated red and white brick buildings so typical of the Egyptian capital inspired artists and architects alike. Like many of his fellow Orientalist painters, Wilda travelled to Egypt in the early 1880s and set up a studio in Cairo where he developed a keen interest for the depiction of everyday Egyptian life. Theodoros Ralli, Stringing Pearls, 1882, oil on canvas (est. £80,000-120,000 / $112,000-168,000) Stringing Pearls is a rediscovery in Ralli’s oeuvre, and perfectly captures the artist’s exceptional skill at depicting intimate scenes of daily life in Egypt. Seated on an ornamented wooden bench adorned with elegant silk cushions, a Nubian man dressed in yellow silk carefully strings white teardrop pearls into a necklace. Picking them one by one from a small ceramic bowl, he appears fully concentrated on his task, unaware that he has dropped two on the floor. Pearl cultivation and the pearl trade were integral to the Middle East region’s economy before the discovery of oil and gas. Fashioned into necklaces and bracelets, natural pearls supplied from the region were prized by jewellers all around Europe.