A
Mughal-era manuscript filled with Indian miniatures discovered locked
up in a cupboard inside a rural England castle is now up for sale at
Sotheby's upcoming auction in London. Also on offer at the auction
titled "Art of Imperial India" scheduled for October 8 is a
group of albums containing historical black and photographs of India.
"The contents of the sale is very eclectic. One very old
manuscript with 140 miniatures in it was discovered in a cupboard in
a castle owned by the Duke of Northumberland," Edward Gibbs,
Chairman and Head of the Middle East and India departments at
Sotheby's, London told PTI recently. "The manuscript is quite
splendid and looking at the miniatures is a very intimate experience
as it was locked up so it has been preserved in pristine condition in
its original binding and not subject to natural light or insects.
It's an exciting find for scholars and historians and those in
auction business," Gibbs said. The illustrated book, which Gibbs
says is "about the size of an iPad" is likely to originate
from end of 17th century. "Interestingly the manuscript contains
an earlier portrait of Shah Jahan in his old age on folio seven, and
this appears to have been added at some point after the production of
the work," auctioneers said. Towards the end of the sale is
featured a group of 31 albums containing over 2,000 photographs of
India, Ceylon, Burma and South East Asia dating from the 1850s to the
early 20th century. Sourced from London-based collector Sven Gahlin,
provenances of the album date to the family of Lord Curzon, the
Viceroy of India among others. "Gahlin has been slowly putting
together a collection of photos of India. He has been a true pioneer
in the filed going to flea markets, jumble sales and other sales. The
collection runs to thousands of photos of historical places, costume
studies of the courts of the maharajahs etc," Gibbs said. The
photos, according to auctioneers can be broadly categorised into
three categories- architecture, topographic images and generic
subjects. It includes among others "views and people in Bombay,
Agra, Delhi, Amritsar, Darjeeling, Kashmir, the Himalayas, Calcutta,
and Ceylon."
Among
the group photographs is one of the Maharajah of Kashmir and his
entourage, and one of another tribal leader. A set of photographs of
the train for the Viceroy of India which was constructed in the
workshops of East Indian Railway Company 1902-1904. The images
include a exterior view of the train, and images of the interior
including the viceroy's office, bedroom, bathroom, the dining saloon,
kitchen, servant's apartment and guards compartment. It has been
estimated to fetch Rs 151,454 - RS 201,939. A diamond rubies and
emerald 'maharani necklace' from late 19th century Rajasthan also
features in the Art of Imperial India sale. Auctioneers have
estimated it to fetch between 2.5 crore to Rs 3 crore. Jewellery and
works of art from the Mughal and the Rajput courts as well as the
period of the Raj also feature in the sale, auctioneers said. The
sale is part of the India Islamic Week, which began on October 3 and
is spread across three major auctions – the Modern and Contemporary
South Asian Art, Art of Imperial India and Arts of the Islamic World.
Tyeb Mehta's 1982 "Blue Painting" the property of Japan's
Glenbarra Art Museum is most expensive of the lot at the Modern and
Contemporary South Asian Art scheduled on Ocober 7 with a reserve
price of Rs 60,177,751 - Rs 80,237,001, auctioners say. Other works
on offer are those by M F Husain, S H Raza, Rashid Rana, Subodh Gupta
and Bharti Kher. "This a really a feast of Indian art. I think
it is very exciting to see how there is a continuity of modern
contemporary with classical historical because you see contemporary
art does not appear out of thin air but is rooted in tradition,"
Gibbs said. Stating that there is "something for all tastes and
pockets," Gibbs said the advantage of having all the sales in
the week is to "cross market it to different potential buyers."
"A large scale company school album was brought by an Indian
collector in the first edition of the Art of the Imperial last year,"
Gibbs said.
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