This Week’s Top Lots: October 5 – 9

Editorial Staff Art

* Christie’s London/October 6, Islamic and Indian Art
The sale total was just over £5 million. The top lot was a circa 1600 Ottoman navigational chart of the Mediterranean coastline that sold for £1.07 million (estimate £300,000-400,000). Other top lots were a Qu’ran dated 1288 AD that sold for £457,250 (estimate £200,000-300,000), and an 18th century painted and carved Damascus room pair of cast iron snakes that sold for £361,250 (estimate £50,000-70,000).

* Sotheby’s London/October 7, Arts of the Islamic World
The sale total was over £7.8 million. The top lot was a prayer rug believed to have been a diplomatic gift from the Safavid Persian court to the Ottoman Turks that sold for £2.7 million (estimate £80,000-120,000). Other top lots were a portrait of al-Sultan Fath ‘Ali Shah Qajar that sold for £421,250 (estimate £250,000-350,000), and an Ottoman tombak water flask that sold for £439,250 (estimate £80,000-120,000).

* Christie’s New York/October 7, Photographs by Sally Mann

The sale total was $667,625. The top lot was Candy Cigarette that sold for $68,500 (estimate $30,000-50,000).

* Christie’s New York/October 7, Color Photographs from the collection of Bruce and Nancy Berman
The sale total was over $1.5 million. The top lot was Bruce Davidson’s Subway that sold for $146,500 (estimate $150,000-250,000). Other top sales were Richard Misrach’s Untitled #13-02, 2002, from On The Beach that sold for $68,500 (estimate $30,000-50,000), Robert Polidori’s 2732 Orleans Avenue, New Orleans, LA that sold for $47,500 (estimate $10,000-15,000), and William Eggleston’s New Greenwood, Mississippi that sold for $37,500 (estimate $10,000-15,000).

* Bonhams New Bond Street/October 8, Islamic and Indian Art
The top lot was an 18th century Ottoman calligraphic hizam that sold for £84,000 (estimate £50,000-70,000). Other top lots were an emerald and seed pearl necklace from the Lahore Treasury that sold for £55,200 (estimate £25,000-35,000), a Qu’ran leaf from the Five Suras that sold for £38,400 (estimate £15,000-20,000).

* Christie’s New York/October 8, Miller-Plummer Collection of Photographs
The sale total was over $1.8 million. The top lot was a daguerreotype of Anthony Pritchard by Marcus Aurelius Root that sold for $350,500 (estimate $20,000-30,000). Other top lots were Alexander Gardner’s Photographic Sketchbook of the War that sold for $92,500 (estimate $40,000-60,000), Dorothea Lange’s Destitute Pea Pickers, California (Migrant Mother) that sold for $86,500 (estimate $40,000-60,000), and Irving Penn’s Chimney Sweep, London that sold for $74,500 (estimate $10,000-15,000).

* Christie’s New York/October 8, Photographs
The sale total was over $2.6 million. The top lot was a tied between Robert Frank’s Fish Kill, New York (estimate $60,000-90,000) and Baron Adolph De Meyer’s Water Lillies (estimate $150,000-250,000) that sold each for $170,500. Other top lots were Ansel Adams’s Portfolio Three: Yosemite Valley that sold for $116,500 (estimate $50,000-70,000), and Irving Penn’s Cuzco Newsboy that sold for $72,100 (estimate $15,000-25,000).

* Christie’s London/October 8, Oriental and European Rugs and Carpets
The sale total was over $1.1 million. The top lot was a 19th century Agra carpet that sold for £55,250 (estimate £50,000-70,000).

* Sotheby’s New York/October 9, Photographs
The sale total was over $3.7 million. The top lot was a complete collection of books and portfolios by 21st editions that sold for $218,500 (estimate $200,000-300,000). Other top lots were Robert Frank’s McClellanville, SC (Barber Shop Through Screen Door) that sold for $182,500 (estimate $30,000-50,000, and Man Ray’s Lee Miller and Friend that sold for $98,500 (estimate $60,000-80,000).

Images from above: Navigational chart of the Mediterranean coastline, Turkey, c. 1600. Courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd. 2009; Prayer rug, central Persia, late 16th/early 17th century. Courtesy of Sotheby’s; Anthony Pritchard by Marcus Aurelius Root, c. 1850. Courtesy of Christie’s; McClellanville, SC (Barber Shop Through Screen Door) by Robert Frank, 1955. Courtesy of Sotheby’s.

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