Enrica Medugno
Senior Sale Coordinator
Lot 199
An illuminated official letter addressed to Queen Victoria, perhaps from the Dogra rulers, praising the British Government and thanking her for her gifts North India, probably Jammu or Kashmir, second half of the 19th Century
12 November 2024, 11:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£3,000 - £5,000
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Oliver White
Head of Department
An illuminated official letter addressed to Queen Victoria, perhaps from the Dogra rulers, praising the British Government and thanking her for her gifts
North India, probably Jammu or Kashmir, second half of the 19th Century
North India, probably Jammu or Kashmir, second half of the 19th Century
Persian manuscript on paper pasted down on card, ten lines of text written in elegant nasta'liq in black ink on gold-sprinkled ground, one line at bottom in takri script, interlinear and inner margins ruled in colours and gold, lines interspersed with illuminated panels of floral motifs, illuminated headpiece with a stylised sunburst motif within an ogival arch, floral outer border
757 x 318 mm.
757 x 318 mm.
Footnotes
The Queen who is addressed in this unusual official letter is apparently Victoria, though she is not actually named. It then goes on to praise the English government, and thanks the Queen for gifts including 'marvellous rarities and wondrous cloths' (nafayes-e 'ajibeh va aqmesheh-ye 'gharibeh), made by English craftsmen. The letter is undated and unsigned, but the takri inscription would suggest that it was sent by one of the Dogra rulers of Jammu and Kashmir, to whom Queen Victoria is known to have sent gifts, including a boat.
Throughout her reign, often at significant moments such as accession, or the birth of the royal children, Queen Victoria received fulsome tributes and stylised good wishes from rulers throughout India, in the form of illuminated letters. For examples in the Royal Collection, see E. Hannam, Eastern Encounters: Four Centuries of Paintings and Manuscripts from the Indian Subcontinent, London 2018, pp. 210-211, no. 73 (from Azim Jah, Regent of the Carnatic, dated October 1837, at the beginning of Victoria's reign); and pp. 234-235, no. 85 (a loyal address, from Jaswant Singh II, Maharajah of Jodhpur, dated 1877, on the assumption of the title Empress of India).