JEDDAH, 27 April 2004 — Following a successful auction of Islamic and European antiques in Riyadh last week, Saudi art dealer Faisal Al-Saadawy is holding a similar one in Jeddah today.
Furniture, porcelain, objets d’art, paintings, carpets, fabrics and jewelry from China, central Asia, Syria, Persia and Egypt, as well as from Europe, will all go under the hammer at the Hewar Gallery.
The gallery is in a villa in a road opposite Sands Hotel off Jeddah’s Tahlia Street. The auction starts after Isha prayer, around 8.45 p.m. The preview begins at 10 a.m.
Art auctions are still something of a novelty in the Kingdom, according to Al-Saadawy. Sale room culture and practice have not yet fully taken root, he says.
His company has organized several major sales across the Kingdom but have had to cope with responses which, while standard in Saudi shops, just do not work at auctions.
On several occasions successful bidders have asked if they can bring back the items bought if their wives or mothers do not like them.
Others have asked for a discount after the sale, and simply do not understand when they are told no.
Such attitudes have prompted Al-Saadawy to go for smaller sales, such as the one held last week in Riyadh and today’s in Jeddah.
Al-Saadawy’s auction house will hold monthly auctions in both Riyadh and Jeddah in future, with a break during the summer.
He said that he plans to hold a major sale in Riyadh on May 9 which will feature one of the most important pieces of Islamic art — a bronze lion — to come onto the market in recent years.
