 |
Current Sales |
|
|
Jewellery
9 Sep 2010, Edinburgh |
Silver
9 Sep 2010, Edinburgh |
Fine & Rare Wines
9 Sep 2010, New Bond Street |
The Oak Sale - Furniture
9 Sep 2010, Chester |
The Oak Sale - Works of Art
9 Sep 2010, Chester |
America's Car Museum Sale, Featuring Property from the LeMay Collection
10 Sep 2010, Tacoma, Washington |
Works of Art, Ceramics and Glass
10 Sep 2010, Edinburgh |
Clocks
10 Sep 2010, Edinburgh |
Rugs and Carpets
10 Sep 2010, Edinburgh |
Pictures
10 Sep 2010, Edinburgh |
|
|
|
Full sales schedule |
|
|
|
|
|
Cornish echoes of the Raj at Bonhams sale of Indian and Islamic Art
mailto:Press@bonhams.com?subject=Indian%20Islamic
A Cornish-based great great granddaughter of a leading Indian Raj judge is selling her inherited album of 26 watercolours from Western India, dating from 1849, at Bonhams in London on October 12.
The album of 26 watercolours is expected to attract bids in the region of £5,000 to £8,000 at the Bonhams auction in Bond Street.
This collection of stunning 150 year old paintings are about to mkae the next stage of their travels having come halfway round the world to find a quiet place in a Cornish vicarage for many decades. Following the sale they may well be going abroad again.
There are a further 100 Indian miniatures in this sale, items which are increasingly sought after by both Indian and European collectors.
The charming images in this treasured family album, watercolours on paper in the Company School style done in Kutch, Western India, circa 1850. The frontispiece of the album bears the signature of Stanley Napier Raikes, is blind-stamped morocco. This auction lot includes three letters dated 1853 from HH Prince Rawajee; four photographs of Kutch princes and the Residency Bungalow, circa 1849; a watercolour of Edur given to Mrs Raikes; a sketch of Edur with a portrait on the reverse; the comet of 1858 shooting over Ahmedabad, pencil sketch with the date '9.9.58'; two miniatures on ivory; and a sketch of the Residency at Bhuj.
The watercolours were the property of Lt. Stanley Napier Raikes a Supreme Judge at Agra and Commissioner at Lahore in Western India. He was decorated with The Order of the Star of India in 1866 and while assistant to the Political Agent at Kutch, Sir George Le Grand Jacob (1805-1881). Sir George was a Major-General in the Indian Army and was clearly held in high regard by the ruling Kutch family, as indicated by the letters, anxious about his health, sent by Prince Rawajee, son of Rao Desaljee, to Lt. Raikes.
The British had a residency at Kutch from 1819 and were on good terms with the local ruler Rao Desaljee II (r. 1819-1860) and his family. The opening of the Suez Canal and the development of the cotton trade brought wealth to this region of western India, and local artists followed the slightly earlier traditions of Company School painting for their British patrons.
The watercolours provide a snapshot of life in India at the time with images of a money-changer attached to the Kutch political residency; a portrait of HH Rao Desaljee II; an officer of HH Rao Desaljee II; retainers; officers; musicians; the silver stick at the Kutch political residency; a Brahmin; potters; faqirs smoking bhang; a Kutch prince; a woman spinning cotton; a bow maker; Arab retainers at the Kutch court; mendicants; and dancing girls with musicians.
There are also portraits of Prince Ballooka, son of HH Rao Desaljee II, with attendants; Maharaja Jawan Singh of Edur, son-in-law to Rao Desaljee II; a sketch of the political agency bungalow at Kutch.
For more information please contact Julian Roup on 0207 468 8259 or email press@bonhams.com
NOTES FOR EDITORS
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America and in August 2003, Goodmans, a leading Australian fine art and antiques auctioneer with salerooms in Sydney, joined the Bonhams Group of Companies. Today, Bonhams is the third largest and fastest growing auction house in the world with a global network of offices and regional representatives providing sales advice and valuation services in 20 countries. It conducts more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further 10 salerooms throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston in the USA; and Switzerland, Monaco, and Australia. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of more than 40 Bonhams specialist departments, go to www.bonhams.com For other press releases, go to www.bonhams.com/press
|
|
|