Sotheby Islamic Art Auction to Net $18m

In the wake of the strong results achieved for the ten sacred curtains offered in Sotheby’s last Islamic Art auction in October 2007 – the majority of which sold for well in excess of their pre-sale high estimates – the forthcoming sale will present the largest group of sacred curtains to have appeared on the market to date.The 14 sacred textiles, which together are estimated to realise in excess of £920,000, will be headlined by four curtains in particular, the most important being a magnificent Ottoman velvet, silk and metal thread calligraphic band (hizam) from the holy ka'ba at Mecca, which dates from the early 20th century and is estimated at £120,000-160,000.The second most valuable of the group is an important 19th-century Ottoman curtain from the Tawassul at Medina, which carries an estimate of £100,000-500,000.Two further significant pieces in the group include an Ottoman curtain from the door of the Ra’isiyah minaret of the mosque of the prophet Hajrat Al-Qabr Al-Nabawi Al-Sharif in Medina, which is highly decorative and includes the embroidered tughra and signature of Sultan Mahumud II (AH 1223-1255/AD) 1808-1838, and a curtain from the tomb of the prophet Hujrat Al-Qabr Al-Nabawi Al-Sharif in Medina. Both curtains are estimated at £80,000-120,000.Highlighting the manuscripts in the sale will be the earliest dated copy of the highly influential astronomical manuscript by Nasir al-Din al-Tusi's, the Zij-i Ilkhani.Copied by Muhammad Ibn Mahmoud Ibn Ahmad Al-Jundabi, Ilkhanid, Persia, the manuscript, dated 24th Shawwal A.H. 676/A.D. 1277, is a highly important document of the Kitab al-Zij al-Ilkhani, or the Zij-i Ilkhani as it is known.Copied only four years after the death of the author and leading 13th-century Muslim philosopher-scientist Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, and a mere eight years after the original was completed in 1270.