£5.5m Mamluk glass goblet sets record at London Islamic art sales

London's spring Islamic and Indian art auctions at Sotheby's and Christie's totalled £32.4m, defying geopolitical tensions. A rare 14th-century Mamluk gilded and enamelled glass footed bowl from the Toledo Museum of Art sold for £5.5m at Christie's, tripling its high estimate and setting a new auction record for Islamic glass. The bowl, one of only four known, was bought by a European client. At Sotheby's, a 17th-century Mughal astrolabe fetched £2m, a record for an Islamic scientific instrument. Two English collections of Iznik pottery—Ralph Brocklebank and Alan Barlow—brought in a combined £2m. Indian paintings remained strong: the Mary and Cheney Cowles collection at Christie's sold 100% for £5.3m, led by a Mughal painting ascribed to Manohar at £571,500. New Indian buyers, previously focused on contemporary art, are entering the classical Indian painting market, a trend first seen at the Aga Khan sale in October 2025.