Sotheby’s London will introduce its first-ever auction dedicated to art from Imperial India.

Over 90 exquisite objects exemplifying the broad artistic traditions of Imperial India will be presented for sale, including works relating to Tipu Sultan.

Benedict Carter, Director, Head of Auction Sales Middle East said: “Following the success of previous sales of Indian Art including the record sales of Stuart Cary Welch’s collection in April and May 2011, Sotheby’s will introduce its first-ever sale of ‘Art of Imperial India’ this autumn.

"The sale will include works of museum quality, rarity and beauty spanning five centuries. With this diversity we have already attracted a great deal of international interest”.

Eleven lots relating to Tipu Sultan - Tiger of Mysore.
The Arts of Imperial India auction will comprise 11 works relating to Tipu Sultan (1750–1799), including weaponry, prints, watercolours and portraits. Highlights include a Tipu Sultan sword fitted with a captured English blade, taken as booty during the storming of the fortress of Seringapatam by the British in May 1799. Decorated with Tipu’s personal emblem, the ‘bubri’, or tiger-stripe motif, it is estimated at est. £80,000-120,000 (pictured left). A further highlight is an 11-bore silver-mounted flintlock duck gun from the personal armoury of Tipu Sultan, signed Sayyid Ma’sum, Patam, dated Mawludi year 1218 (1789-90), est. £80,000-100,000.


Jewelled treasures from the courts of India.

An exceptional diamond-set and enamelled gold tray and casket (pandan), North India, 18th Century, (est. £200,000 – £300,000).

This extremely rare enamelled and bejewelled gold pandan box (pictured on page one), set on a tray with eight smaller boxes, displays the wealth and taste at the Mughal court for the most lavish objects. These were used not only for personal ornamentation, but served an important diplomatic purpose, to impress and reinforce the power of their Empire.

Covered with bright green enamel and set throughout with diamonds in the kundan technique, the creator of the present box and tray has conceived a masterful combination of the highest order. The diamonds are carefully faceted to bring out the maximum brilliance of each stone. Whereas jewelled examples of this quality exist, it is incredibly rare to find this shape.

A gem-set gold dagger and scabbard, Mughal, circa 1700, (est. £80,000-120,000)
Swords and daggers formed an important part of the Royal Mughal treasuries; they were considered as precious as the finest jewels, and the craftsmen who fashioned them were regarded with the same esteem as the greatest artists. This dagger, overlaid with gold and set with rubies, emeralds and turquoise, embodies the prestige accorded to such weapons and the message of power that they conveyed as presentation pieces.

The Adoration of Rama and Sita, Pahari, Kangra or Mandi, circa 1830-40, est. £100,000-150,000.
One of the most remarkable of late Pahari paintings, this monumental work depicts Rama and Sita enthroned, adored by gods, semi-divine beings, ascetics and mortals. A very elaborate composition, executed with great skill and extremely fine detail, it was probably executed as a private commission by a patron, perhaps to mark the occasion of the coronation of a prince.

The Rich Man and Lazarus: a Mughal drawing after an engraving by Jan Sadeler.

(Bassan's painting Indian, early 17th century, est. £10,000-15,000)
The copying of European prints by Mughal artists was a popular trend in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and it was actively patronised by Mughal emperors and other patrons. This particular drawing, after an engraving by Jan Sadeler of Jacopo Bassano’s painting, depicts the story of the rich man (called Dives) and Lazarus from the Gospel of St. Luke, chapter 16, verses 19-31. It was no doubt among the numerous prints of Biblical subjects taken to India by Jesuit missionaries and other European travellers, diplomats and merchants in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century.

A portrait of a nobleman with a dog, attributable to a follower of Farrukh Beg Muhammad Ali, Mughal, early 17th century, £60,000-80,000.
This is an important and rare painting close in style to the work of the well-known Perso-Mughal-Deccani artist Farrukh Beg, and is possibly by the artist Muhammad Ali, a close follower of Farrukh Beg who was active at the Mughal court in the early years of the seventeenth century. The composition of a princely youth standing or seated in front of blossoming trees was a popular one in Persian and Mughal painting of this period.