The jar will remain at Sotheby’s until the end of the trial. The auction house said it wasn’t taking a position on either man’s claim, and that it “would comply with any court order relating to which of the claimants is entitled to possession of the piece.”
The artifact helps to “fill in the gaps in the story of a craft and tradition that represents the pinnacle of luxury artistic production at the heart of the medieval Islamic world,” according to a Sotheby’s marketing brochure.
The case is Ali Saatsaz Jeddi vs Sotheby’s in the High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.