Posted on 04/04/2006 3:28:16 PM PDT by blam
£1m mosque beams pulled from auction in ownership row
By Stephanie Condron
(Filed: 04/04/2006)
Christie's has cancelled the sale of five wooden beams from the 1,200-year-old mosque in Cordoba in Spain which were expected to fetch more than £1 million at auction today.
Lawyers for one of the most important Islamic buildings in the West successfully blocked the sale of the 10th century beams amid arguments over who owns them.
The sale, which was to be the highlight of the Islamic art manuscripts auction today, was to have seen each carved beam reach bids of up to £300,000.
"I am delighted that we have been able to prevent their sale and we will be discussing with Christie's their true ownership and, if necessary, will no doubt be instructed to take steps to recover them," said Jonathan Wheeler, of the law firm Irwin Mitchell, for the mosque.
The Great Mosque of Cordoba is a Unesco world heritage site and "one of the most important monuments in the world", according to the auction house.
It became the city's cathedral in the 13th century and, now a tourist attraction, is known for its massive structure of 19 aisles, each with up to 36 bays. None of the original wooden beams remains.
The five beams put up for sale had been removed from the mosque following refurbishment some time around the turn of the last century, says Christie's. It had said they were discovered in 1928 "at the back of a massive barn" where they had lain for decades.
Six yards long and beautifully decorated on three sides, they are believed to be well preserved. The mosque (now church) is claiming it owns the beams and they should not be sold.
After Christie's started advertising the beams on its website last month, Spain asked Interpol to stop the auction so that ownership could be clarified.
Under Spanish law goods more than 100 years old must have permission for export. Although Christie's was not saying exactly who it was selling the beams to, it is understood they were being returned to Spain for a nominal sum.
A spokesman for Christie's declined to reveal who the auction house was selling the beams on behalf of.
She said: "Christie's is in dialogue with the Spanish authorities with a view to negotiating a private sale for the five wooden beams from Cordoba.
"Therefore, Christie's has agreed to withdraw the beams from Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds sale in order to continue these discussions."
Work on the mosque in southern Spain began in the eighth century. But expansions and alterations were made over the centuries by a series of patrons, both Moors and Christians.
By the early 18th century much of the original wooden roof was in such a poor state of repair that most of it was replaced by a new vaulted structure.
That's some expensive firewood. Good thing I'm not a millionaire because the islamdertals wouldn't be very happy with what I would do.
Time to light the fire and put a pig on the spit.
We visited this structure while in Spain some years ago.
It was STUNNING....the scale and space is breath taking..
If memory serves, there is a Catholic Cathedral built INSIDE, in the middle of the old Mosque....
Semper Fi
The mosque itself is absolutely beautiful, definitely one of the world's most stunning buildings- the Umayyads certainly had taste. Is such a pity though that they demolished the central area to stick in that awful Cathedral, it would utterly ruin a lesser structure. As it is it does serve to highlight the beauty of the rest of it though.
Charles V got it right when he visited; "You have built what you or others might have built anywhere, but you have destroyed something unique in the world." I'd love to have seen it in its original state, when in use as a mosque the roof was far more open then it is today and light filtered down through the arches giving the effect of walking in a giant forest. Must have been breathtaking.
Mohamed's catamites.
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