Biography
Benedict Carter gained his BA Honours degree in Theology and Religious Studies from Bristol University in 2005, specialising in Islamic studies and Arabic. He achieved an MA with distinction in Near and Middle Eastern Studies from The School of Oriental and African Studies in 2007. Benedict has travelled widely in North Africa, the Middle East, India and further afield in the Islamic World, studying Arabic at both the Universities of Jordan and Alexandria. He joined Sotheby's Middle East Department in 2008, becoming Head of Auction Sales in 2013. Benedict’s primary responsibility is sourcing and selling Islamic works of art in the biannual auctions of Arts of the Islamic World & India as well as via private sales.
Benedict has worked on a number of highly successful single-owner sales, including A Princely Collection (2010); the two-part landmark sales of Stuart Cary Welch (2011); The Sven Gahlin Collection (2015); The Khosrovani-Diba Collection (2016); The Howard Hodgkin Collection (2017); The Shakerine Collection (2019), and most recently IN AN INDIAN GARDEN: The Carlton Rochell Collection of Company School Paintings (2021). In October 2018 he was key to setting a new world record for any Islamic object sold at auction with the sale of ‘The Debbane Charger’, a large Iznik blue and white pottery dish, circa 1480, which sold for £5.4 million.
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