Jahangir portrait to go under hammer
THE LARGEST known Mughal painting, a portrait of Emperor Jahangir, is estimated to sell for between £1 million and £1.5 million at an auction on Tuesday afternoon at Bonhams in London. The painting is in the style of a European portrait of the early 17th Century. The portrait is attributed to Mughal artist Abul Hasan, Nadir al-Zaman or “Wonder of the Age.”
The portrait shows Jahangir seated on a gold-decorated throne holding a globe, wearing elaborate robes and jewellery. The Persian inscription states that the portrait was painted at Mandu in 1617.
“This is one of the rarest and most desirable 17th Century paintings ever to come to auction. There is no other work of its kind known and its importance cannot be underestimated. The extraordinary detail and complexity of the painting both fascinate and bewitch the viewer,” Alice Bailey, head of Indian and Islamic Art at Bonhams, said.
The other highlight of the auctions is an Ottoman gilt bridle, breast-plate and crupper, which was taken from the residential quarters of Tipu Sultan, Sultan of Mysore, by a British officer. The bridle, which was personal property of Mysore’s Tipu Sultan, is estimated to sell for between £60,000 and £90,000.
Field Marshall Sir Stapleton Cotton, 1st Viscount Combermere, had brought the bridle to England.
The bridle was part of a booty taken from Tipu’s palace after the siege of Seringapatam by Lt. Col. Cotton, and together with a breast-plate, was specifically recorded as being Tipu’s personal property.
The bridle, it is speculated, must have been part of a princely or ambassadorial gift to Tipu Sultan from the Ottoman Sultan Selim III.
The third important item at the auction is an inscribed Mughal emerald personal seal set in a diamond encrusted gold bangle and bearing the name of Major Alexander Hannay, an East India Company officer under William Hastings.
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