TEHRAN – A Persian painting by master miniaturist Mahmud Farshchian fetched the highest price -- 5.5 billion rials (over $1.5 million)-- on Friday at the second edition of Iran’s National Auction, which is dedicated to artworks by classical Iranian artists.

A collection of 76 artworks were offered for sale, most of which were sold at reasonable prices during the auction held at the Rayzan International Conference Center in Tehran with auctioneers Atila Pesyani and Amin Ziaii.An artwork by Behruz Heidarian was the second most expensive item sold at 3.6 billion rials (over $1 million), Persian media reported on Saturday.A painting by Jafar Khan Naqqash dating back to 1863 stood third at 3.5 billion rials (over $1million), while a painting by Aidin Aghdashlu went for 2 billion rials (about $600,000).Miniature painting by Hossein Khatai earned 1.8 billion rials (about $500,000), and a miniature work by Mohammad-Ali Zavieh went for 1.6 billion rials (over $400,000).Other works that garnered large sums included a miniature by Hossein Behzad and calligraphy paintings by Sadeq Tabrizi, Sedaqat Jabbari and Reza Mafi.A calligraphy painting by Mehrdad Fallah at 70 billion rials (over $17,000) was the lowest-priced item sold at the auction.However, a miniature work by Mirza Aqa Emami with the highest price offered at the auction in the range of 7.5 (over $2 million) to 9.5 billion rials (about $3 million) remained unsold.Photo: Persian painting by master miniaturist Mahmud Farshchian fetched 5.5 billion rials at Iran’s National Auction in Tehran On October 9, 2015.RM/YAWEND