Opening of the 7th Iran National Auction 

Introduction 

The 7th Iran National Auction will be held on June 24, 2022, at Khaneh Hamayesh in Tehran. In this auction, with Zahra Mohammadvand as the presenter, 40 lots of Iranian and Islamic sumptuous artworks, including miniature paintings, calligraphy, illuminated manuscript, pen box, enameling, toreutics, and other fine arts, will be put on sale. The works will be displayed in an exhibition prior to the auction.  

Miniature Painting Section 

One of the most famous artworks in this section is a miniature painting that belongs to Mirza Agha Emami, an artist who lived during the Qajar dynasty. It is considered one of his most notable works created with a combination of illuminating, tasheir, calligraphy, and tilework. The painting has an estimated price of 4 to 5.4 billion tomans. Other paintings evaluated with the highest prices include a work by Hossein Khataei (3.5-4 billion tomans, who was Mirza Agha Emami's student and a prominent artist in leather mosaic technique, an iconography by Ali Ebrahim Naghashbashi (2.8 billion tomans), a wooden door ornamented by paintings of banquet and hunting scenes created by Mirza Agha Emami's studio (2.5-3 billion tomans), a Portrait of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar by Yahyakhan Ghafari, an artist living during the Qajar period (1.5-2 billion tomans), and another portrait of Naser al-Din Shah by Sima Azimi, contemporary Under Glass painter (1-1.2 billion tomans). Additionally, a miniature painting of Hossein Behzad, a lake pigment painting attributed to Mirza Baba, a painter who lived in the Zand and Qajar period, and two works by Alikhan Saba, a painter who lived in the Qajar period, will be auctioned at this event.  

A collection of 21 pen boxes and 2 envelopes, estimated between 5 and 5.5 billion tomans (the highest estimated price in the event), is among the most exquisite works presented at this auction. The pen boxes are created by well-known pen box painters such as Mohammad Zaman, Agha Sadegh (Sadegh al-Vad), Sanie Homayoun, Fathollah Shirazi, Nasrollah Emami, and Najafali. A collection of 4 pieces, including a lacquer box ornamented with paintings of scenes from Qajar period wars by Sadegh al-Vad, and three mirror frames by Sadegh al-Vad and Mohammad Esmaeil, painter in Naser al-Din shah’s court, will be auctioned for 2 billion tomans. Moreover, a lacquer box ornamented by Heydar Ali, a contemporary polychrome tile artist, a pen box designed by Mohammadbagher Semiromi, a pen box painter from the Qajar period, a tile painting by Ahmad Shishehgar, a prominent contemporary polychrome tile artist, and some toreutic works are among the most elegant artworks auctioned at this event. 

Writing Section (Manuscripts / Calligraphy Pieces) 

In this section, three manuscripts will be sold along with calligraphy pieces by the most famous calligraphers, such as Alireza Abbasi and Asadollah Shirazi, both calligraphers of the Qajar court, and other contemporary calligraphers including Gholamhossein Amirkhani, Amirahmad Falsafi, Mojtaba Sabzeh, and Fardin Valizadeh. A manuscript of  Quran is evaluated with the highest estimated price in this section (1.6 billion tomans). It belongs to the Qajar period and is written by Mohammad ebne-Mollayousof with the beautiful Naskh script of Islamic calligraphy. Next is a manuscript of twelve clauses of Mohtasham Kashani's poems written by Abdollah Qajar in a collection of twelve panels (1.5 billion tomans), a manuscript of the Divan of Hafez written in Nastaliq script (800-900 million tomans), a piece of Alireza Abbasi's writing in Nastaliq script (400-420 million tomans), and another manuscript of Quran belonging to the Timurid Empire (400 million tomans).  

Handicraft Section (Carpet / Fabric) 

This section comprises a gold-woven carpet (110 million tomans), Tehran rug (350 million tomans), Qajar curtain (20-30 million tomans), Isfahan crocheted curtain (100-120 million tomans), Rasht-embroidered diptych curtain (250 million tomans), gold-woven Cashmere wool (300 million tomans), embroidered curtain ornamented with patterns of Ayahs of Quran (800 million tomans), and a curtain with a design of the tree of life (800 million tomans). It is worth mentioning that a 7.2-carat diamond licensed by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) will be auctioned in the next edition of the Iran National Auction.  

About the Iran National Auction 

Iran National Auction, which will run its 7th edition this summer, was founded in 2011 to promote activities in the field of arts, including production, exports, auctions, and exhibitions, and to introduce authentic Iranian art to the world. Ever since, the auction house has focused on selling traditional, exquisite works of Iranian art such as carpets, jewelry, handicrafts, automobiles, and other decorative objects. 

• The 1st National Auction (October 2014): a collection of masterpieces of authentic Iranian art.

• The 2nd National Auction (September 2015): the first traditional visual arts special auction 

• The 3rd National Auction (July 2016): the first carpets special auction 

• The 4th National Auction (July 2018): the 2nd traditional visual arts special auction  

• The 5th National Auction (December 2019): the traditional artworks auction 

• The 6th National Auction (July 2020): the 1st online auction 

• The 7th National Auction (June 2022): the Iranian and Islamic artworks auction