Made in Ottoman Turkey around 1480-1500 it sold for £350,000, more than double the estimate to set a new auction high for an Iznik dish. The new owners are the Detroit Institute of Art.
The dish gave a significant boost to the auctioneers' final sale total of £1.82m but originally this auction had the potential to make an even higher sum. It was due to feature a group of five 10th century carved larch beams from the Great Mosque at Cordoba which carried an aggregated estimate of around £1m. However, following questions raised about ownership rights by the Spanish authorities, these never actually made it to the rostrum. They were withdrawn from sale by Christie's the day before the auction. More on this story will appear in a future issue.
