The Wall Street Journal gives us a quick look at some of the top lots in London’s Islamic Art week:

A Christie’s highlight will be a richly-decorated, 19th-century room from Damascus with surfaces ornately carved and adorned with gilt stucco and painted with arabesques, floral and architectural designs (estimate: £200,000-£300,000). In 2009, Christie’s sold a similar painted and carved Damascus room for £361,250.

At Bonhams, there will be a rare collection of textiles from the Persian city of Isfahan, where in the 17th and 18th centuries “conspicuous consumption was a social obligation,” Bonhams Islamic specialist Kristina Sanne says. They include a small, 17th-century woven silk and gilt-metal-thread panel decorated with silver parrots perched on leafy branches amid orange and blue flowers (estimate: £15,000-£20,000). The collection took more than 30 years to assemble by a “passionate” American collector, Ms. Sanne says.

Attracting pre-sale attention at Sotheby’s is a luxurious and very rare, 16th-century ivory and turquoise box set with rubies, says Islamic specialist Edward Gibbs (estimate: £500,000-£700,000). For works designed to catch the eye, it would be hard to beat a splendid pair of large 18th-century Ottoman Empire stirrups (estimate: £30,000-£40,000); or a diamond and ruby-set gold anklet that once graced the leg of the Indian Maharaja of Morvi (estimate: £300,000-£500,000).

Intricacies of Islamic, Indian Art (Wall Street Journal)