LAST CHANCE Sotheby’s Middle Eastern art week preview

Ahead of Sotheby’s bi-annual London auctions of Middle Eastern art (Modern & Contemporary Middle East on 22 October; Arts of the Islamic World & India on 23 October) some examples of work to be sold are being shown in Dubai. They include a rare 8th century bronze aquamanile from Iraq (top), a ewer in the form of an elegant buck which carries an estimate of £2 to 3 million. Other (gorgeous and impressively expensive) exhibits include an illuminated Qur’an by the master calligrapher Ya’qut al-Musta’simi and dated 1275-6 CE; a set of twelve iridescent lustreware bowls from Abbasid Iraq; and some top 2D contemporary art, including work by Aref El Rayess (below), Mohammed Al Saleem, and Ayman Baalbaki.