4/24/17
Not much happening today but plenty of action on the docket for the rest of the week !
4/25/17
“Skinner’s Day” and the sale is underway , up to this point it’s looking pretty good for L.K. and the Skinner’s rug dept. Things are selling and there’s not much in the way of unsold lots at this juncture but we are only about 20% of the way home so let’s just wait and see how it ends up.
Fini , Skinner’s sale is now in the books and for all intents and purposes it was a very successful venture for Mr Kearney and the rug dept. This was certainly one of the better if not best rug sales from a sold standpoint for “them” since L.K. took over the rug dept. Certainly far better than the “online only” debacle last fall !
Out of the 386 total lots run over the podium only 51 failed to garner any attention. A sold percentage of right at 87%. Easily the best return for a general rug and textile sale in this Spring 2017 rug auction season , at least up to this point . Granted this was a mid to low end sale and they kept the pre- sale estimates on the conservative side to attract buyers but the tactic worked so good for them. That said there were however more than a hand full of substantial upside pops to add a little drama to sale and it always adds a little excitement to the event. All in this was a very positive outcome for the Skinner’s rug dept. heading into the summer doldrums so hats off to them !
One more thing , hopefully no more “online only” sales but only time will tell on that one ?
Concerning the 2 lots I featured in the earlier review both sold .
Lot # 22 Two Anatolian yasticks . Pre-sale set. $ 6-800.00 , sold for $554.00 . Just below the low estimate so maybe someone got a pretty good deal, or not ?
Lot # Saryk Juval . pre-sale est. a very conservative $ 2-300.00 . Sold for a not unexpected $ 2,706.00 including comm. As I figured one of the substantial upside pops but still a decent deal for the new owner .
4/26/17
Sotheby’s, Arts of the Islamic World just wrapped up and from a textile point of view it turned out very well for them . 18 of the 20 textile lots sold and the one mediocre susani as well . Many of the textile items were especially good and sold far over their high estimates which good for Sotheby’s , the rug market and of course the consigners too. The rest of the antiquities sale appears to have also gone fairly well for them too , which shows the Islamic Art market is still very strong .
Regarding the item I featured in the earlier post it sold and sold very well at that.
Lot # 139 Ottoman Cintamani velvet panel . Pre- sale set. £ 200-300,000.00 sold for a rightfully deserved £ 1,076,750.00 including comm. To my eye this was a serious museum piece and kudos to the new owner ? who got a truly great piece !
Easily the star lot and for sure the high point of this years “Islamic Week” sales in London. .
Mid-week break !
4/27/17
Next up , today’s results from Christie’s, “Arts of the Islamic and Indian Worlds” . For starters there seems to be some sort of problem with Christie’s websites continuous buffering. So here we go , anyway . Out of the 35 rugs and carpets crossing over the podium 27 possibly ended up selling . This may not be totally accurate as there are 2 separate sales results lists posted and they each point to a somewhat different result . Site buffering aside if the posted results stand this was a fairly successful undertaking for Ms Broadhurst and the Christie’s rug dept. As I said in the previous review although a modest size sale inventory I had a good feeling about how this sale would turnout and hopefully the more positive posted results will be accurate .
Two of the more important textile lots out of the seven offered also found new homes .
As for the two items I featured in the earlier blog post both sold .
Lot # 140 Ottoman Velvet Panel , 17th century . Pre-sale estimate £ 100-150.000.00 , sold for £ 413,000.00 including comm. A substantial outcome for a very good piece . Again great for the consigner’s too. Considering the price fetched by this piece and the even better one at Sotheby’s the day before there is no shortage of funds available for important Ottoman velvet items even in this sporadic rug and textile market !
Lot # 186 ,Lotto carpet , 17th century . Pre-sale estimate £ 15-25,000.00. Sold for £ 43,750.00 including comm. A very reasonable price for cool , small size Lotto carpet supposedly in good fairly good condition.
4/28/17
Last of the auction activity for this week but not to be forgotten Christie’s, South Kensington’s sale titled ” Arts and Textiles to the Islamic and Indian Worlds” . As I mentioned in the earlier review of the inventory no rugs or carpets but it did include 24 textile lots and 9 susani’s .
So out of the 24 textile lots included in the offering it appears only 5 lots found a buyer. They did have much better luck with the susani’s in the group with 6 out of 9 selling. Granted for the most part these pieces were in more of the ordinary variety but it was still a much better outcome than the textile lots in the sale.
Referring back to the Shakhrisabz susani lot # 295 , pre-sale estimate £ 30-50,000.00 that I featured in the previous blog post it failed to attract any attention. Perhaps after the Vok 3 sale at Rippon-Boswell a few weeks ago there was a bit of overload in the high end susani market or possibly the pre- sale estimate / reserve was just a bit to much !
One more thing worth a line . Looks like it might be the end of the road for Christie’s , South Kensington location as Christie’s might be shutting it down in a cost cutting measure !
And with all that 2017 ” Islamic week” in the U.K. comes to a rather lackluster end !
4/29/17
Early morning road trip .
4/30/17
Weekend Margarita !
Quiet Sunday after a hectic rug activity week !
Keep in mind Bit**e’s your either on the inside or not , as always your Choice ! , Sheik Frederich , 2017.
Movie o the week , Pirate Radio , 2009.
Song o the week , Life of Agony , A Place Where There’s No More Pain on A Place Where There’s No More Pain , 2017 .
