How much rare Ottoman art can you cram into one single collection sale? About 400 years' worth, apparently, if Sotheby's upcoming April 24 auction in London is anything to go by.
Entitled "An Eye for Opulence: Art of the Ottoman Empire," Sotheby's auction will offer a variety of Ottoman art collectibles spanning the 15th to 19th centuries.
Iznik ceramics, manuscripts, silverware, decorative arts and textiles will all appear for sale. As will a number of European paintings and Turqueries.
These works and others reflect the cultural and artistic exchanges between Europe and the Ottoman Empire over hundreds of years. Chinese and Persian influences can also be detected in a number of Ottoman Empire collectibles
 The 'An Eye for Opulence: Art of the Ottoman Empire' will be held in London |
The West's fascination with the 'exoticism' of the Ottoman artefacts was strong back then, and continues among collectors and connoisseurs to this day.
"The collection presented for sale is the result of over thirty years' searching and selection on the part of its owner," said Edward Gibbs, Senior Director and Head of Sotheby's Middle East Department.
"[Their] enviable level of connoisseurship, gained from many years of studying the various forms of Ottoman art, is reflected in the mature and sophisticated array of objects, textiles and paintings to be offered."
Sotheby's London auction will comprise 254 lots. Total sales of this remarkable single-owner collection are expected to reach £3.5m.
