The well-attended auction of the third and final tranche of the Ignazio Vok Collection at Rippon Boswell in Wiesbaden on Saturday 25th March 2017 was, like its predecessors, a great success, with many of the 93 lots of Central Asian suzani silk embroideries and Anatolian-Persian-Caucasian tribal and village woollen flatweaves exceeding their estimates, and only a tiny handful remaining unsold (at the time of writing).
Lot 261. Kermina Suzani, Central Asia, South West Uzbekistan, Ca. 1800 or earlier. 170 x 117 cm. Estimate €30,000-35,000, sold for €76,260 ( including 23% premium)
Joint top lots on the day at €76,260 each, including 23% buyer’s premium, were two remarkable suzanis. Lot 261, a rare and rather enigmatic small format Kermina embroidery, with a ‘fishpond’ design, was bought in the room by a North American collector for double the estimate, while the final piece of the sale, lot 270, a well-known Bukhara ‘large-medallion’ piece, sold on estimate to a telephone bidder. Other high ticket suzanis of various types also sold well to collectors, both in the room and on the phone, with one bidder in the room scooping at least four pieces.
Lot 270. Large Medallion Suzani, Central Asia, South West Uzbekistan, Emirate of Bukhara, before 1800. 283 x 177 cm, Estimate €60,000-70,000, sold for €76,260 (including 23% premium)
Lot 236, Yüncü Kilim, North West Anatolia, Balikesir region, Ca. 1800. 206 x 158 cm. Estimate €3,500.00-4,200, sold for €36,900
The outstanding flatweave on the day was a wonderful Yüncü kilim, lot 236, hotly contested on several phones, which sold for €36,900, ten times estimate! A Turkish dealer in the room bought no fewer than eight of the other Anatolian kilims, but lost out on several others which went to a bidder on the phone from Turkey. Italian trade and private collectors were also well represented among buyers in the room, as were well-known collectors from across the Atlantic, not all of whom managed to get what they had come for.
