SPRING SALE, 15th May 1999
Alhambra Wall Hanging Fetched Sensational Price 
At the great Spring Sale held on 15th May 1999, lot 39 caused the sensation of the day. Measuring 385 x 268 cms, the textile, a purple and gold wall hanging made in lampas technique and richly decorated in designs and script characters, had been consigned as an "Aleppo Silk Weaving, Northern Syria, early 19th century" and moderately priced at DM 5,500.
After the catalogue had gone to print, however, the auctioneers realised that the splendid textile was by no means Syrian, but of Southern Spanish origin, and much older than initially assumed. Research showed that the hanging was woven in the Granada court workshops, and was datable to the reign of the last Moorish Nasrid sultan, Mohammad al-Ghani who ruled from 1462 to 1491. Previously unpublished, the piece probably formed part of the furnishings of the Moorish sultan's seat of government during that period, the world-famous Alhambra of Granada. Only one other completely preserved example of that rare type had been previously known; it is in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, and was displayed at the "Al-Andalus" exhibition held at the Alhambra in 1992.
The call of this late medieval rarity was awaited with suitable excitement; written pre-sale bids had already pushed up the asking price to DM 10,000. The bids from the floor rapidly climbed to DM 65,000, and then a fierce struggle began between three telephone bidders and one recently arrived floor bidder. The latter finally had the item knocked down to him for DM 340,000 (DM 401,200 including commission): a new auction record for a West Islamic weaving.
The fact that the outdated description and prices for the wall hanging happened to be included in the catalogue did not diminish bidders' enthusiasm in any way. At Rippon Boswell's forthcoming October sale of a major part of the world-famous Kirchheim collection, "Orient Stars", we may expect a similar lively exchange between interested parties.