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Search for£100 JUG SELLS FOR £3.1m
Wednesday, October 08, 2008, 08:00
The carved rock crystal ewer, one of the most desirable works of art from the Islamic world, was believed to be a cheap French claret pitcher when it was originally put up for sale in Somerset.
It fetched £220,000, but this was still a bargain and luckily for the original owners, the sale was declared void.
The 1,000-year-old ewer was sold today to an anonymous bidder at Christie's London auction house for £3,177,250, including the buyer's premium.
The jug was made for the court of the Fatimid rulers of Cairo, Egypt around the late 10th century AD, and is believed to be one of only seven fully-carved surviving pieces of its kind.
The ewers were carved from a single piece of flawless rock crystal, which was hollowed out, leaving a surface just 2mm thick.
One of the other six examples is in London's Victoria & Albert Museum.
The ewer sold today is the first to be offered on the open market.
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