The incredible climb of the lot 245 from the 19th of December sale hosted by Goya Auctions, has left us one of the most spectacular hammerprices of the year for the decorative arts field in Spain. An occasion almost unique in the dessolate and monothonus Spanish art market trend. The piece goes on to take the lead, without any difficultu, of any Turkish work offered in the history of our country. Going on to become one of those few works that are handled for six figure sums.  

The last wildcard in the auction season appeared reproduced in the catalogue of the Madrid auction with a modest description that read simply:"Turkish gilded ceramic plate, Iznik, XVIIIth century, damaged". Shortly afterward the organizers of the well known auction house soon realized it was a very special piece that had commanded written absente bids from around the world. With the help of specialists and a throrough examination, the lot 245 was correctly identified as wath it was and its value became an open secret.   

The village of Iznik is seated in an idealic landscape on the shore of a lake in Western Anatolia. During the nineteenth century collectors and conoisseurs were impressed by the beauty of the ceramic pieces produced there during the XVIth century for the Stambul court of the Sultan, one of the most powerfull monarchs in Europe. For decades scholars refused to acknowledge the possibility that these fine pieces had been produced by a nomad and barberic culture, and for years were considered Persian, the only Islamic culture worthy of artistic merit for westerners. It was not until the 1920's that specialists accepted Iznik ceramic to be the result of the Ottoman empire, and, therefore, Turkey. To them we owe some of the most outstanding ceramic designs and models in history.

Something similar must have happened in the Madrid bidding room, in any event, the efficient trading method an auction offers, soon made people bid for what it was instead of what it seemed at first. From New York, Paris, London to Stambul or even Cairo, bids doubled, tripled, and multiplied until reaching the final breath of 145.000 euros offered by a foreign collector who finally got away with a very valuable example of Saz style Iznik ceramic.

Ultimately, good and necessary news for the Spanish art market brought to us by Goya Auctions, who once more has succeded in surprising Spanish and foreign collectors with one of their lots. Alfonso Carbajo Agrasar

* We would like to express our gratitude to Goya Auctions and specially to Juan Pablo Casas for the account of the details occured in the 19th of December sale. 

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