Historic Quran to be sold at auction

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

The 400-year-old handwritten Quran is expected to be sold for 15,000 liras. AA photo

A four hundred-year-old handwritten Quran will be listed in an auction of Ottoman and mixed artwork, with an opening price of 1,500 Turkish Liras.

The auction, scheduled to take place at the Dedeman Hotel in Istanbul on March 24, will feature 353 works owned by prominent European collectors including Hans Viessmann, Vladimir Hvlacek, and Luise Hofmann. Among the auction items are figurines, clocks, porcelain ware and jewelry from Ottoman palaces.

Ersin Kaygusuz, a partner at Sancak Auction, said that the auction is receiving keen interest from buyers. He said that among the works for sale are Turkish and Orientalist paintings from such artists as İbrahim Safi, Şeref Akdik, Halit Naci, İlhami Demirci, Hayri Çizel, Avni Arbaş, Burhan Uygur, and Turgut Zaim. “The works will go on sale at prices much lower than their actual values. We are expecting the Quran to command 15,000 liras.”

Kaygusuz also said that among the highlights of the auction are a Meissen Böttger teapot from the 1700s, Süleymaniye stamped chandeliers from the 18th century, a 19th-century Sevres vase, a Meissen porcelain mirror from 1770, a 19th-century gas lamp specially made for Ottoman consumers, and a Meissen miniature patterned vase specially made for the last Ottoman Emperor, Sultan Mehmet Vahdettin.

Pieces included in the auction are currently on display at the Sancak Auction Art Gallery in Harbiye. “The list also includes a 19th-century Kaaba belt, with silver quilting on silk, and a Kaaba inner cloth covered with writings from the Quran,” Kaygusuz said.