On May 3, London auction house Roseberys will auction nearly 400 lots of artefacts from the Middle East and the wider Islamic world.
Among the highlights is anearly Qajar portrait of Shah ‘Abbas I, estimated at £7000-10,000. Distinguishable by his distinctive moustache, he is regarded as one of Iran’s great rulers from the earlier Safavid dynasty.
Dated 1228AH/1813-14AD, this large 4ft 10in x 3ft 10in (1.49 x 1.17.m) oil was painted during the later reign of Fath ‘Ali Shah (r.1797-1834), who was a keen patron of life-size oil portraits, particularly of himself and his sons.
Shah ‘Abbas is accompanied in the portrait by a young Safavid prince who is identified as Suleyman Mirza, the son of king Tahmasp I (r.1524-76) who was murdered by his half-brother in 1632.
roseberys.co.uk or see this item on thesaleroom.com
One of only three known surviving first anniversary copies of the Irish Proclamation of 1916 will be offered at Victor Mee Auctions of Cavan, Ireland, as part of a two-day sale on May 8-9.
The copy was printed by the Irish republican women’s paramilitary organisation, Cumann na mBan, a year after the 1916 Easter Rising using the same printing blocks as the original. These were gathered from the wrecked General Post Office in Dublin, used as the headquarters of the uprising’s leaders.
This example was taken down by a member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police to avoid political unrest on the orders of the High Sheriff of Dublin. The piece was passed to Robert Bradley, a retired Sheriff of Dublin and passed to his friends, the McKay family, who kept it for over six decades, passing it down to the vendor.
Estimate €10,000-20,000.
victormeeauctions.ie or see this item on thesaleroom.com
A small private collection of vintage motorcycles including a1952 Vincent ‘Black Shadow’ Series C will go under the hammer in Tennants’ Motor Vehicle and Automobilia sale on May 12 in Leyburn, North Yorkshire.
The group belonged to the late Eddie Saxton, a dedicated enthusiast from the north of England, and is led by the Black Shadow estimated at £20,000-30,000.
The model is regarded as the world’s first superbike and, with a top speed of 125mph, was the fastest production motorcycle of its era. The Black Shadow was made by Vincent HRD in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, between 1948-55, a company renowned for its fine engineering and innovative design. Indeed, the Black Shadow was so expensive to make that Vincent actually sold them at a loss.
