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How would you feel, if the object of art you own, was estimated to be worth a couple of hundred dollars and sold for twenty times more? Happy?
And how would you feel, if the trusted professional, who helped you to unload that now sorely missed artifact, had made a mistake in estimating it, which resulted in the underpricing said object for a couple of million dollars?
A Fascinating Story of the Rare Piece of Art.
“Miscatalogued as a 19th-century French claret jug, it was estimated at £100-200 and is worth around £5 million…an 11th-century Fatimid rock crystal ewer, with a market value of up to £5m, surfaced in a British provincial auction on 17 January where it was estimated at £100-£200. Described by Lawrences auctioneers of Crewkerne, Somerset, as a 19th century French claret jug, the piece eventually sold for £220,000.”
“The extraordinary story, reported in The Art Newspaper today, began when the 11th-century ewer was put up for sale by Lawrences auctioneers of Crewkerne, who described it as a 19th-century claret jug adorned by mythological animals, birds, and vegetal motifs, and set with European silver gilt and enamel mounts, possibly of Austro-Hungarian origin.
The valuers failed to realise that it was among a handful of Fatimid rock crystal ewers, which are considered among the rarest and most valuable objects in the Islamic art world. The last one to surface on the market was bought by the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1862.”
“One specialist London dealer described the crystal ewer yesterday as the “Holy Grail” of Islamic art but said he himself had failed to correctly identify the pitcher from the small, indistinct photograph of a “claret jug” on the website of the auction house…There are around 180 rock crystal pieces known to exist in the world today, the majority of which are small items such as pendants and kohl bottles. A tiny bevel-carved rock crystal flask, which measured only 2.57cm high, sold at auction at Sotheby’s last October for £558,100. ”
For the picture and more details see the sources.
Originally reported here:www.theartnewspaper.com
Also: news.independent.co.uk
