A Qajar gold-damascened steel helmet and shield Persia, 19th Centuryboth engraved and decorated in gold overlay with inscription-filled cartouches, with openwork decoration interspersed by panels with foliate designs, traces of red foil behind the openwork, the helmet of domed form surmounted by a spike finial, with adjustable noseguard terminating in a palmette to each end, flanked by plume holders, with camail comprising steel and brass rings with geometric designs; the shield of convex form with four applied steel bosses, lined with fabric, old collection label to reverse inscribed '6075' and possibly 'Teyf', with four suspension loops 20.5 cm. diameter(2)Footnotes:ProvenanceSan Rafael Auction Gallery, Fine Art Furniture & Chinese Antiques Auction, 22 October 2016, lot 0069.The Mohammed Khalil Collection.PublishedM. K. Ibrahim, Islamic Arms and Armour, Vol. II, United Arab Emirates, 2022, p. 919, cat. no. 806.Inscriptions: inscribed with Persian verses on the subject of the helmet and shield respectively. The decoration and openwork featured on the present lot is of particularly fine quality. For a shield that incorporates similar openwork backed in red foil, see Robert Hales, Islamic and Oriental Arms and Armour: A Lifetime's Passion, London, 2013, p. 288, Cat. No. 700. For similar pieces inscribed with some of the same verses, see Kjeld von Folsach et al (eds), Fighting, Hunting, Impressing: Arms and Armour from the Islamic World 1500-1850, Copenhagen, 2021, cat. no. 65, and numerous helmets in the Wallace Collection, including OA1571, OA1798.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * R* VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.R This lot is subject to import restrictions when shipped to the United States.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
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A gold koftgari steel helmet India, 19th Centuryof gadrooned domed form with inverted floral finial surmounted by a faceted spike, the adjustable noseguard terminating in a palmette to each end, flanked by plume holders, decorated in gold overlay with cusped cartouches containing foliate motifs on a ground of foliate interlace, the 'ganga-jamuna' camail with steel, brass and copper rings forming lozenge designs, with red velvet lining 21 cm. diam.Footnotes:ProvenanceMohammed Khalil Ibrahim Collection, Dubai.PublishedMohammed Khalil Ibrahim, Islamic Arms and Armour, Volume II, United Arab Emirates, 2022, p. 761, Cat. No. 609.For a silver koftgari helmet of similar form sold at Christie's, see Islamic Works of Art and Textiles, 6 October 2008, lot 148.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A Khorasan silver and copper-inlaid bronze war hammer in the form of an elephant Persia, 11th/ 12th Centurythe head of trapezoid form with a central aperture to receive the haft, the sides engraved and decorated in silver and copper inlay with rosettes surrounded by circle motifs and inscriptions in kufic on a ground of scrolling tendrils, the face in the form of an elephant head, a large foliate motif to the trunk, inscriptions to the ears 11.6 cm. max.Footnotes:ProvenanceThe Mohammed Khalil Collection.PublishedM. K. Ibrahim, Islamic Arms and Armour, Vol. I, United Arab Emirates, 2022, p. 245, cat. no. 43. Inscriptions: al-'izza [sic] wa al-i/qbal wa al-da[wla], 'Glory and prosperity and wealth'; 'ali-yi / kharrad(?), ''Ali son of Kharrad(?)'.A group of four hammerheads of elephant form can be found in the Furusiyya Art Foundation, attributed to the Ghaznavid or Gurid period (see Bashir Mohamed, The Arts of the Muslim Knight, the Furusiyya Art Foundation Collection, 2007, p. 258, no. 248). Another was sold in these rooms, Islamic and Indian Art, 24 April 2012, lot 77.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * R* VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.R This lot is subject to import restrictions when shipped to the United States.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A Mughal rock crystal-hilted steel dagger (khanjar) India, 18th Centurythe double-edged steel blade of curved form with two fullers, terminating in an armour piercing tip, the rock crystal hilt of pistol-grip form with curved quillons, carved and decorated with floral and foliate motifs 38.5 cm. longFootnotes:ProvenanceThe Mohammed Khalil Collection.PublishedM. K. Ibrahim, Islamic Arms and Armour, Vol. II, United Arab Emirates, 2022, p. 681, cat. no. 496.This form of dagger appears to have become popular at the start of the 18th Century, having first emerged in India circa 1650. The type is depicted in miniatures from the period, such as an example from the mid-18th Century sold in these rooms depicting the Emperor Muhammad Shah receiving four courtiers, in which the figure on the far right bears a gem-set khanjar within his patka (see Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 5 April 2011, lot 243). The present lot is a fine example of this dagger type, the hilt carved and decorated in a floral and foliate design that exemplifies the Mughal preoccupation with nature and natural forms. A comparable rock-crystal example is in The Al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait (Inv. No. LNS 77 HS).This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A fine gold-inlaid watered-steel push dagger (katar) India, 17th/ 18th Centurythe double-edged watered-steel blade with armour piercing tip, chiselled with central spine flanked by triangular recesses and two small fullers, the hilt of typical form with faceted baluster grips and flaring sidebars, decorated in gold inlay with pavilions in a landscape, the wood scabbard clad in red velvet with foliate openwork steel mount 35.7 cm. longFootnotes:ProvenanceThe Mohammed Khalil Collection.PublishedM. K. Ibrahim, Islamic Arms and Armour, Vol. II, United Arab Emirates, 2022, p. 694, cat. no. 514.The decoration on the hilt of the present lot is exceptionally fine. The flowing water and pavilions are comparable to those found on a 17th Century tulwar (see Robert Hales, Islamic and Oriental Arms and Armour: a Lifetime's Passion, London, 2013, p. 164, no. 402). The water on the tulwar flows in horizontal bands and around the base of the pommel, whereas on our katar, the water flows so as to follow the vertical design of the sidebars, demonstrating the great detail paid to the relationship between the form and decoration of the individual weapon. Another example of similar decoration appears on a 17th Century chape in the same publication which features cypress trees and flowering shrubs with lotus flower-filled ponds (ibid p. 59, no. 123). Robert Hales refers to the slightly darker steel of both these examples as being blackened, or dark burnished, similar to the hilt of the present lot. A further Mughal or Deccani enamelled 17th Century dagger which features bands of flowing water and pavilions is in The Furusiyya Art Foundation Collection (see Bashir Mohamed, The Arts of the Muslim Knight, the Furusiyya Art Foundation Collection, 2007, p. 229, no. 20).This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A LARGE AND IMPRESSIVE JAPANESE INLAID-BRONZE KORO (INCENSE BURNER) BY MAKINOMEIJI PERIOD, 19TH/20TH CENTURYCast in three separate sections, the globular body and cover decorated with silver and gilt takazogan, the side with a sparrow resting on a bearded iris rendered in relief, the lid surmounted with a large finial shaped as an eagle clutching a hare; the koro raised on an elaborate base with four oni mask-capped feet supporting an upper tier with pierced decoration above a lower circular base, a seal mark reading Makino no in to the base, 65cm. (3)Provenance: the private collection of a lady and gentleman, Derbyshire.With the opening of Japan to the West during the Meiji restoration, Japanese works of art began to feature prominently at the International Exhibitions popular at the time. Large Japanese bronzes were particularly popular, with the dealer Sigfried Bing selling an example to the South Kensington Museum (now The Victoria & Albert Museum) in 1881 for a sum so large that special dispensation was required from the Treasury (see The Victoria & Albert Museum, London, accession no.188:1 to 9-1883). Elaborate craftsmanship was favoured by Western collectors, and complex techniques were often used by makers for virtuoso effect. Takazogan in particular, was often used. Literally translating as 'high inlay', it made use of a variety of metals and alloys, such as gold, silver, copper and shakudō (an alloy consisting mainly of copper and gold), inlaid into the surface of a piece to create elaborate high-relief designs, as seen in the piece offered here.
A JAPANESE PARCEL-GILT BRONZE OKIMONO BY AKASOFU GYOKKŌ (ACT. LATE 19TH CENTURY)MEIJI ERA, 19TH CENTURYModelled as two figures wrestling, one standing and twisting the other's arm behind his back, the crouching man biting his lips and contorting with pain; the victor wearing lose garments decorated with cartwheels amongst waves, the other with butterfly roundels; rendered in two shades of warm chocolate-brown bronze and with details highlighted in gilt; signed in a rectangular cartouche Gyokkō, and with remnants of a paper label for Kevin Page Oriental Art underneath, 34cm.Akasofu Gyokkō was a bronze sculptor and a prominent member of the Tōkyō Chōkinkay (Tokyo Cast Metalworkers' Association). He was particularly renowned for his depictions of birds of prey, felines and samurai warriors. See lot 311 of this sale for a large model of a tiger by Gyokkō.
UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)TAIHEIKI EIYUDEN (HEROES OF THE GREAT PEACE)EDO PERIOD, 19TH CENTURYFifty individual Japanese woodblock prints constituting a full set of the series, each signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga and sealed, published by Izumiya Ichibei (Kansendo) in 1848-1850, each print oban tate-e, approx 36.4cm x 25cm. (50)The historical epic Taiheiki (Chronicle of the Great Peace) written around 1372 recounts the civil war that engulfed Japan during the first half of the 14th century, known as the Nanboku-cho period. This text is widely regarded as being largely historically accurate in its depiction of the events that led to the rise of the Muromachi Shogunate. It tells of the wars between the Northern Court of Ashikaga Takauji in Kyoto and the Southern Court of Emperor Go-Daigo in Yoshino, and introduced some of the most admired tragic figures in Japanese History, such as the samurai Kusunoki Masashige. Also referred to as Nanko, he became widely celebrated in the 19th and early 20th centuries, appealing to the nationalism that swept the country around the turn of the century. In 1880, he was posthumously raised to the status of Senior First Rank by the Meiji government, seen as an epitome of courage and loyalty to the Emperor. As part of this celebration of Kusunoki Masashige, the nationalist cause also returned to the Taiheiki, which became well-known following the Meiji Restoration. The present lot is emblematic of the cult surrounding the personalities in this text, with Utagawa Kuniyoshi depicting individual characters from the Chronicle. For a comparable example to the series offered here, including the sheets depicting Takuma Genba no jō Morimasu, Aragi Settsu no kami Murashige and Toki Jurōzaemon Mitsuchika, see the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, access. nos.11.38046, 11.38047 and 11.22129. See also the example sold at Sotheby's London, 17th December 2020, lot 74.
NO RESERVETSUDA EIJU (1915-2001) SHOWA ERA, 20TH CENTURY A tall Japanese bronze vase, the cylindrical body with a reddish-brown patina and cast with a series of horizontal ribs, with a seal mark for Eisu to the base; together with a trumpet-shaped bronze vase with a central bulb, unsigned; both with inscribed tomobako wood boxes, 24cm and 29.9cm respectively. (4) PLEASE NOTE THIS LOT IS TO BE OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE. Provenance: a British private collection. Cf. T & M Becker, Twentieth Century Japanese Bronze Flower Vases, The Becker Collection, pp.122-123, where the ribbed piece is illustrated and discussed. The authors explain that Tsuda Eiju worked mainly for the Imperial family, and became particularly famous for his murashi-do patina. He was awarded the Grand Prize at the Nitten Japanese Fine Art Exhibition in 1962.
A MINIATURE JAPANESE CLOISONNE ENAMEL VASE AND COVER BY NAMIKAWA YASUYUKI (1845-1927)MEIJI ERA, EARLY 20TH CENTURYDecorated with two thatched cottages by the waterfront in a colourful river landscape, the sky a uniform cobalt blue contrasting with the water below rendered in graduated musen (wireless cloisonné); with narrow borders to the foot and shoulder, the rim decorated with a polychrome band of chrysanthemum panels; the small domed cover embellished with formal lotus panels beneath a chrysanthemum-shaped silver finial; the silver base stamped Kyoto Namikawa, 11.5cm. (2)Originally a samurai, Namikawa Yasuyuki opened his first enamelling studio in Kyoto in 1875 and went on to become one of the most influential artists of what is referred to as the 'Golden Age of Enamelling' in Japan. His earlier work was relatively traditional in style, mainly decorated with formal botanical and geometric motifs, but his later designs became increasingly pictorial. Reminiscent of the Nihonga style painting, he made use of intricate wirework counterbalanced by broad areas of pure enamel, a compositional style that relates the piece offered here with the two koro in the Khalili Collection, illustrated in Meiji no Takara: Treasures of Imperial Japan, the Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Japanese Art, Enamel, nos. 25 and 32.
NO RESERVETSUDA EIJU (1915-2001) SHOWA ERA, C.1950 A Japanese bronze vase cast in the shape of a stylised apple; with a round body, the neck modelled as the stem and with a small handle to the side suggesting a leaf; the surface with a warm mottled chocolate-brown patina, the base impressed with a square seal mark reading Eiju, 18.7cm; with an inscribed tomobako wood box. (2) PLEASE NOTE THIS LOT IS TO BE OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE. Provenance: a British private collection. Cf. T & M Becker, Twentieth Century Japanese Bronze Flower Vases, The Becker Collection, pp.114-115, where this very piece is illustrated and discussed. The authors explain that Tsuda Eiju worked mainly for the Imperial family, and became particularly famous for his murashi-do patina. He was awarded the Grand Prize at the Nitten Japanese Fine Art Exhibition in 1962.
TWO JAPANESE PARCEL-GILT BRONZE SAWASA BOXES EDO PERIOD, MID-18TH CENTURYThe larger of square form, the cover decorated with a shaped gilt panel depicting a shishi and two birds in flight by a large flowering peony, all rendered in relief against a granulated background, reserved on a black lacquer ground detailed with gilt engraved lotus and a bird in each corner; the sides with gilt waves and blossom sprays alternating with formal lotus scrolls, the base and the inside gilt, 4.5cm x 10.8cm x 10.8cm; the smaller box of rectangular form, decorated all over with panels of gilt foliate scrolls in low relief against a granulated black lacquer background framed by gilt borders, the hinged cover centred with a formal lotus flower, the base lacquered black and the interior gilt, 1.8cm x 4.3cm x 3cm. (3)Sawasa pieces, historically labelled 'Tonkin Ware' and thought to be of Chinese origin, have now been re-evaluated as being Japanese, manufactured from the mid-18th century in Nagasaki for export via Deshima. The larger box and cover is closely related to the circular incense boxes and covers in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, illustrated in M De Brujin et al., Sawasa: Japanese export art in black and gold, 1650-1800, pp.107-110, nos.E.5.1 to E.5.7. The smaller piece, similar to Western snuff boxes, features the unusual arrangement of gilding to the highpoints and black lacquer to the background, in a fashion similar to a cup and cover in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, illustrated in op. cit., p.94, no.D.5.1. Its European shape is typical of Sawasa ware, which generally took its forms from Dutch originals, ranging from snuff and tobacco boxes to tea sets and coffee urns.
NO RESERVEAKIKO SMITH UEDA (B.1983) ELYSIAN HEISEI ERA, 21ST CENTURY A Japanese abstract painting, mixed media on board, signed Akiko Ueda and dated 2014 to the side and signed again at the back, 90cm x 90cm; together with a copy of a certificate of authenticity supplied by the artist, stating that the painting was created for her first UK exhibition. (2) PLEASE NOTE THIS LOT IS TO BE OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE. Provenance: a private English collection, Hampshire, purchased directly from the artist on 10th November 2014. Akiko Ueda is a Japanese artist who graduated from the Musashino Art University in Tokyo, and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels. Her works have been exhibited in Japan, Belgium, France, Slovakia, Czechia and the UK and are part of Japanese public collections including at the Ohara Museum of Art, the Haruhi Museum and Kitakata City Museum of Art.
NAKAJIMA RAISHŌ (1796-1871)COCKEREL, HEN, AND CHICKSEDO PERIOD, 19TH CENTURYA Japanese two-fold byōbu (paper screen), painted in ink and colour on silk, the left panel depicting the cockerel with his plumage and long tail feathers meticulously portrayed, standing proud with his chick in the foreground, the right panel with the hen also carefully rendered with her two offsprings at her feet, signed and sealed Raisho, 155.5cm x 143cm.Nakajima Raishō was born in Kyoto, and studied under two pupils of the master Maruyama Ōkyo (1733-95), Watanabe Nangaku (1767-1813) and Ōkyo's son Maruyama Ōzui (1766-1829). Raishō was celebrated for his realist Shijō style of painting, and excelled at Kachō-ga (bird-and-flower) scenes. His artworks can be found in collections around the word, including at the British Museum, London; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art, Washington.
NO RESERVEHASUDA SHUGORO (1915-2010) SHOWA/HEISEI, 20TH CENTURY A Japanese nickel vase, the tall square-section body with an elongated neck and a small triangular handle; the sides embellished with five horizontal lines, the base signed Shugoro, 24.3cm; with an inscribed tomobako wood box. (2) PLEASE NOTE THIS LOT IS TO BE OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE. Provenance: a British private collection. See Christie's New York, 22nd September 2005, lot 249, for a related patinated vase by Hasuda Shugoro. Hasuda Shugoro is considered one of the leading Japanese modernist artists working in bronze during the Post-War Period. After graduating from Tokyo School of Art in 1938, he participated in founding the Creative Crafts Association (1952), the Japan Modern Craftsmen's Association (1961) and the Japan Metal Sculpture Institute (1976). His first award was at the 5th Nitten in 1949, and he later received the Hokuto Award (1953) amongst many further prizes. In 1987, he was designated a person of Cultural Merits, and he was later decorated with the Order of Cultural Merit in 1991.
NO RESERVENISHIKAWA SUKENOBU (1671-1750) BIJIN-GA (BEAUTIES) EDO PERIOD, 18TH CENTURY Two Japanese woodblock prints from an e-hon (printed book), volume 2 of the series Hyakunin joro shina-sadame (One Hundred Women Classified According to their Rank), published by Kyoto-shi, 1723, both approx. 26cm x 36cm; together with a preparatory drawing for a print by an unidentified artist, 14.5cm x 20cm, one print and the drawing both framed and glazed. (3) PLEASE NOTE THIS LOT IS TO BE OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE. Provenance: from the Milne Henderson Collection of Japanese Art.
Φ Ω A UNIQUE COLLECTION OF ITEMS RELATING TO ELIZABETH KEITH (1887-1956)20TH CENTURYComprising: 1. a woodblock print entitled 'Forbidden City, Peking', 1935, signed 'Elizabeth Keith' lower right corner, 29.5cm x 41cm;2. the original wooden key block for the above print, hand-carved with the main structural elements of the composition; the reverse also carved with the brown and green features in the image, 28cm x 42.7cm x 1.7cm;3. a copy of M C Salaman 'Masters of the colour print, vol.9, Elizabeth Keith', 1933, with a hand-written dedication by Elizabeth Keith inside reading: To Mr & Mrs de Jonghfrom Elizabeth KeithWith Christmas Greetings. 19444. a typed letter by Elizabeth Keith, with hand-written corrections and signed 'Elizabeth Keith' in ink, the letter reading:'Idbury Manor. Kingham. February 8th. Dear Mr de Jongh, I must apologise for the delay in answering you, I had to go to London yesterday, and I am always busy! No women ever take part on the Noh Stage, nor in the Kabuki either, but in the modern present day plays only. (I should not be surprised to hear that has been put a stop to now!) If you would like to get an insight into the psychology of the Japanese, read the 'Year of the Wild Boar' by Helen Mear, it is excellent.The gown worn by Kongo (red) in' Hagaromo' is of the stiffest gauze perhaps 100 years old (many of his robes were much older) it would stand by itself! He wears many garments underneath. I have seen him dressed. He is a very handsome and charming man, I could not associate him with the devils who are fighting our peoples. His son-in-law hates the Militarists. I daresay he has been executed ere this! To return to the robes, they are generally stiff. The green dress is linen, it hangs more softly. He is (Shigiyama) a comic actor, and rarely has as fine garments as Kongo. Green may fade, I do not think the red will fade much, as I have so many 'coats' or 'brushings' of red! As you will not avoid temptation I shall make you a reduction of 25% if you buy two. 'Returning from the Funeral' is almost exhausted, and ought to have gone up in price. You need not decide at once, I shall not be leaving England for some time to come - Alas! I daresay you have heard that Mr Taylor has not been well, shortage of paper and a still greater shortage of staff, make it impossible for them to undertake books for newcomers! I feel it is perhaps the Partner perhaps who is not keen on Korea. We shall go elsewhere when we are ready, I should have preferred having it done by someone we know about! I think I have answered all your questions, please forgive all the mistakes, I taught myself to type not so long ago! With kind regards to you and family, Yours sincerely Elizabeth Keith.'5. a handwritten letter by a relative of Elizabeth Keith (possibly her sister), composed shortly after the artist's death, reading:106. Randolph Avenue WG 24.4.56Dear Daniel, We thank you deeply for your warm sympathy and true appreciation of Elizabeth. Her loss to us is almost unbearable as she was really the centre of much that is left of our family life. She is mourned - truly mourned- by hundreds of friends in all parts of the world! It is good to realise that so many rejoiced in her quality of generous service to all she could help in some way. We so regret that the last years were spent on only caring really for a household instead of pursuing her art!! If only she could have had any peace at the end, but it was all so painful and had she ever left her sick-room she would have had led an invalid's life and we are grateful that she was spared that entailment of liberty. One can't picture her as helpless and she remains in one's memory as bright anyway. My brother-in-law is terribly cut up and had to keep his 90th birthday celebrations arranged for him by staff with a sad heart. Thank you both again. Affectionately yours, Rachel?. G.A.';And further newspaper cuttings relating to Elizabeth Keith. (a lot)Provenance: according to the owner, the print was purchased by his grandfather, Mr de Jongh, directly from the artist at the Beaux Arts Gallery in London in 1937, and the wood key block was gifted to him by the Keith's family after her death in 1956. By repute, many of the early wood key blocks Elizabeth Keith used were lost in the fire which destroyed the studio of her publisher Watanabe Shozaburo in the 1920s, making this one a rarity.
A JAPANESE BRONZE OKIMONO OF JUROJIN BY HORI MASAGORO / JOSHIN (1907-93)DATED TAISHO 11, 1922The God of Good Fortune is depicted standing, wearing long robes and a tall hat, holding his detachable gnarled staff with a makimono attached to it; signed Joshin with kao at the back, 36.5cm; with a tomobako wood box inscribed Seido Jurojin okimono, Taisho juichinen inu tsukuru kore, Yamashiro ke jusei, on-kamashi Hori Masagoro, Joshin (A figure of Jurojin, bronze, okimono, made in Taisho 11 (1922), by the metal maker Hori Masagoro, the Hori Yamashiro line, and the tenth generation, art name Joshin), and sealed Joshin. (3)
A LARGE JAPANESE SILVER OKIMONO OF JUROJIN BY ŌSHIMA JOUN (1858-1940)MEIJI OR LATER, 20TH CENTURYThe God of Good Fortune stands, wearing long flowing robes and a hood over his elongated forehead; he holds a handscroll opened to reveal two characters reading Fuku Ju (Happiness and Long Life); signed at the back Ichijoken Joun saku (made by Joun, art name Ichijoken) and with a jungin (pure silver) mark; in an inscribed tomobako wood box, 38cm. (2)Provenance: an English private collection, Somerset, purchased in Japan.Ōshima Joun was a sculptor who became both renowned in Japan and abroad after exhibiting in Paris in 1878. He became a professor at the Tokyo Art School (1887-1932), and acted as a judge on many committees and other panels for Japanese art exhibitions and competitions.
A JAPANESE PARCEL-GILT BRONZE SAWASA TOBACCO BOXEDO PERIOD, MID-18TH CENTURY Of compressed oval form, the hinged cover decorated with a bracket-lobed panel enclosing two ho-o birds in flight above a large peony with a shishi underneath, all lacquered black against a gilt granulated background; the base with another panel depicting a Chinese landscape, with birds among fruiting branches issued from rockwork before two pavilions, the sides with birds among flowering and fruiting stems, the interior gilt, 2.3cm x 7cm x 9cm.The present lot is closely related to contemporary European tobacco boxes, particularly those of Dutch manufacture. This feature is typical of Sawasa ware, which generally took its forms from Western originals and included articles such as snuff and tobacco boxes, drinking utensils, sword hilts and other small accessories. Sawasa pieces were made in Nagasaki and exported from Deshima via the VOC, contrary to the earlier understanding that it was of Chinese origin and accordingly labelled 'Tonkin Ware'. A related group of Sawasa tobacco boxes are in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, illustrated in M De Brujin et al., Sawasa: Japanese export art in black and gold, 1650-1800, pp.57-62, nos.B.1.1 to B.4.2. Examples nos.B.2.2 and B.2.3 also feature panels of Chinese landscapes similar to that on the base of the piece offered here.
A JAPANESE PARCEL-GILT BRONZE OKIMONO OF KANNON BY TAKAMURA KŌUN (1852-1934)TAISHO/SHOWA, 20TH CENTURYThe Bodhisattva of Mercy is depicted standing on a circular base and holding a tall lotus stalk; she wears long flowing robes and various jewels highlighted in gilt; signed at the back with an impressed seal reading Takamura Kōun, 38cm.Takamura Kōun, a member of the Imperial Art Academy and professor at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, was an influential figure in the modernisation of Japanese sculpture around the turn of the 20th century and one of the first two sculptors to become Teishitsu Gigeiin (Artist to the Imperial Household), appointed in 1890. His most celebrated works are the large bronzes of Saigo Takamori and Kusunoki Masahige both on public display in Tokyo, yet he initially trained as a wood carver with the traditionalist Buddhist sculptor Takamura Tōun. It was thanks to a sandalwood figure of Kannon that he came to fame in 1877 at the first Naikoku Kangyo Hakurankai (Domestic Industrial Exhibition), and it was not until the 1880s that he began to create wood maquettes for casting in bronze. His specialism in Buddhist iconography remained throughout his career, and he is considered an influential revivalist of Buddhist art during the Meiji, Taisho and Showa eras, often melding traditional Japanese imagery with Western stylistic elements. The standing figure of Kannon often recurs in his work, as seen in the present lot and a similar bronze sold at Bonhams, London, 15th May 2014, lot 542.
NO RESERVEUTAGAWA KUNISADA II (1823-80) EDO PERIOD, 19TH CENTURY Two Japanese woodblock print triptychs, the first entitled Yugao from the series Emakimono gojūyo jō (Fifty-four Chapters in Picture Scrolls), signed on the left sheet Baichōrō Kunisada ga, with censor's seal aratame, Hare 1, 1867, 37.8cm x 72.6cm; the other, entitled Hatsu no gogen oshiki kinuginu (Regrets of the First Morning After) from the series Imayo Genji emaki (Picture Scroll of the Modern Genji), signed on each sheet Kunisada ga, with censor's seal aratame, Monkey 9, 1860, 34.4cm x 71.6cm. (2) PLEASE NOTE THIS LOT IS TO BE OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE. Provenance: an English private collection, Devon. See the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, access. no.00.1022a-c. for another example of the triptych entitled Hatsu no gogen oshiki kinuginu.
NO RESERVEA JAPANESE BRONZE CIRCULAR PLAQUE BY YASUTAKE FUNAKOSHI (1912-2002) PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG GIRL SHOWA ERA, DATED 1972 A Japanese bronze medallion depicting a young girl in profile wearing a chrysanthemum flower in her hair, signed Funakoshi lower right, the reverse inscribed Suemori 14 Sept 1972 Norihiko Chieko, the metal with an olive-green patina, 8.3cm. PLEASE NOTE THIS LOT IS TO BE OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE. This plaque was created to commemorate the wedding of the artist's daughter Chieko to television director Norihiko Suemori in 1972. Yasutake Funakoshi joined the sculpture division of the Shin Seisaku Kyokai (New Art Society) in 1939, and later became a professor at the Tokyo University of the Arts, and Tama Art University. During his career, he was awarded many prizes and distinctions, and his work can be seen today in the collection of the Japanese Government, on the Heimai Bridge in Kushiro and on the shore of Lake Tazawa.
YOSHU / TOYOHARA CHIKANOBU (1838-1912)HEIKE MONOGATARI (HEROES AND HEROINES IN THE TALE OF THE HEIKE)MEIJI ERA, 19TH CENTURYAn album of Japanese woodblock prints, the cover with a paper slip reading Nihon rekishi zue, zen (Japanese History Illustrated in Art, Complete), featuring thirteen diptychs of various protagonists from the series illustrating the rise and fall of the Heike clan, ten signed Yoshu Chikanobu and nine sealed yoshu; published in 1898; each oban diptych 35.3cm x 24.2cm.
NO RESERVEKATSUKAWA SHUNSHO (1726-93) POETS EDO PERIOD, 18TH CENTURY Four Japanese woodblock prints from the series Hyakunin Isshu (One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets), each depicting a figure with calligraphy above, one a portrait of famous female writer Izumi Shikibu (976-1030); together with an anonymous drawing in sumi ink of a man striking another whilst his female companion hides behind him; all framed and glazed, 22.8cm x 15.8cm max. (5) PLEASE NOTE THIS LOT IS TO BE OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE. Provenance: from the Milne Henderson Collection of Japanese Art.
WOLFGANG PAALEN (1905 - 1959)Indian Summer Oil on canvas, 145 x 130cm Signed and dated (19)59; inscribed and dated 1959 versoProvenance: John Huston Collection, St. Clerans, Co. Galway; Private Collection, DublinThe main concern is not to operate for eternity, but in eternity. (From Wolfgang Paalen’s scrapbook Voyage nord-ouest, Canada/Alaska 1939).Austrian born artist Wolfgang Paalen was a key figure across many movements that have come to define the artistic landscape of the mid-20th century. On relocating to Paris in the 1930s, Paalen joined the Surrealist group with his then wife and fellow artist Alice Rahon. Initially he was drawn to the creative possibilities of automatism, and this led to the development of his fumage technique. He used candle smoke to make distinct impressions on the surface of the oil painting, resulting in hazy, dreamlike images. Following an invitation from Frida Kahlo, Paalen left Paris in 1939 intending to visit her in Mexico. However, before heading south, he travelled by train across Canada arriving in British Columbia in June. From there he embarked on an expedition across the Indian reserves on the north-west coast, a journey which would spark a life-long interest in indigenous art. He finally arrived in Mexico in September, shortly after the outbreak of the war and joined the group of influential artists, including Frida Kahlo, Diego Riveria and fellow expat Leonora Carrington. In an attempt to bring together the disparate strands of surrealism spread across the different continents, he organized the International Exhibition of Surrealism in Mexico City with André Breton in 1940. This large-scale work, with its canvas covered in an array of bright spots of colour against a white background alludes to his own abstract language that he had developed since the 1940s. His farewell to Surrealism published in the inaugural edition of his interdisciplinary journal Dyn (1942 – 1944), was a public separation from the movement and allowed him to move towards a new experimental artistic approach to exploring the unconscious mind and to look to past and prehistoric cultures which had been traditionally overlooked in the artistic canon. Paalen used Dyn to express new theoretical concepts, such as his own ideas on totemism and totemistic art, new propositions on quantum theory as well as criticism of the philosophical concept of dialectical materialism and western dualism. Paalen was one of the most influential art theorists of the period and his impact on the genesis of Abstract Expressionism and the modern art movement cannot be understated.The Dynaton, as they named themselves were a group of artists from the San Francisco Bay Area including painters Gordon Onslow Ford and Lee Mullican. The word ‘Dynaton’ comes from the Greek κατὰ τὸ δυνατόν – “that which is possible” and perfectly captures the character of this present work by Paalen. There is no sense of beginning or ending in the work. The tones swirl and swim across the canvas or gather in clusters applied in thick layers to enliven the texture of the surface. It expresses an idea of an eternal, never ending universe in which there is a circular, rather than linear, order to the cosmos. Everything is coming and going in an endless cycle.This work was painted in 1959, the year that Paalen died by suicide in Mexico after suffering for many years with bipolar disorder. As a late work it exemplifies a shift in his practice described by celebrated Mexican author Octavio Paz as a “florid tempest,” in which Paalen was inspired by the surrounding landscape of the Yucatan Peninsula. Other examples painted in same year use very similar vivid colour palettes and compositions such as Bougainvillea (Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University St Louis) or Migración de Yucatán (Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City). The title ‘Indian Summer’ may allude to the flower Alstroemaeria 'Indian Summer' or Peruvian Lily as it is more commonly known, reflecting the orange and yellow tones of its petals. Or it may even refer to the meteorological phenomenon of unexpected spell of warm weather in Autumn. Regardless of what determines its subject matter, it is a beautifully expressive painting that exemplified the intermittent but intensive periods of artistic productivity that characterised the final year of his life.Niamh Corcoran
GIULIO TURCATO (1912 - 1995)UntitledOil on canvas, 100 x 138cm Signed (bottom left)Provenance: Marlborough Galleria D’Arte, Roma label verso; John Huston Collection, St. Clerans, Co. Galway; Private Collection, DublinThe life of Italian artist Giulio Turcato (1912-1995) is one that spanned the breadth of last century right up to within the grasp of the next. Indicative of many European artists of his time and place was a propensity towards transgression, collectives and the innovation of new ideas - all of which the artist subscribed to.In 1925, Turcato formally started his studies of art in Venice and first gained professional exposure as an assistant in Giovanni Muzio's architectural studio. Though he moved to Milan in 1937, it wasn't until Rome in 1943 that the artist found common fertile ground to grow, share and mature his ideas. In a 1986 interview with Claudio Verna, Turcato declared, "Art is born from the meeting of ideas, and this is only possible in the city." If Rome were the city, then Osteria Fratelli Menghi - a local inn famous for its artists, writers, and creative types - and avant-garde groups, including Fronte Nuovo Delle Arti, Art Club, and Gruppo degli Otto, would be some of the many meeting points. Keen to contribute to such groups, Turcato also later signed the manifestos for Forma and Neocubism, both in 1947. During this time, Turcato's actions reached beyond the art world when he joined the Resistance and became a member of the Communist Party. However, Turcato later left the party due to ideological disagreements. Perhaps this departure was unofficially amicable, as evident by the controversy stirred by his 1949 painting, Camizo, which was declared 'too abstract' by the infuriated Communist Party leader Pailmiro Togliatti. For an artist who continuously sought stylistic experimentation, it was only natural that he would transverse the parameters of each of these groups. As was mirrored in the artist's paintings, what began as geometric formality dissolved into free-form emotive expression.Turcato found influence in the Fauves, Surrealism and, in particular, Matisse. The latter he recalls as his favourite painter and noted the impossible task of mimicking a 'great master' artist who was so uniquely free. Merging the colour of the Fauves, the dreamlike instincts of Surrealism and reaching for his own unique freedom resulted in his post-war replacement of political subject matter with experiments of pure colour and pigment. Works indicative of this period are Untitled, Simbola di Marte, and Superfiore Bleu. In the absence of geometry and figures, each painting here distils the universal affective nature of colour. Untitled evokes open space via mid-tone cerulean blue, dashed with what feels like frozen ephemeral cirrus clouds. Brush strokes are still visible within the subtle inflection of tones, reiterating the canvas and material quality of the painting itself. With Simbola di Marte, an undefined red ochre shape dominates the frame. The absence of colour is marked by sporadic charcoal and grey - an absence that only serves to enhance the warmth each tone offers. While the painting references the rust red symbol of Mars, it also speaks of red ochre - an ancient pigment first created with the clay of the earth. Superfiore Bleu is a panoramic view of mid to deep cobalt. The darker tone blotches induce the kind of depth felt only by deep water. This painting's width-to-height ratio invites the viewer to step closer, inducing the immersive capabilities of colour.Although not intended as a triptych, the coming together of these three paintings via the late filmmaker John Huston's (1906-1987) personal art collection gestures to the most foundational elemental reference points of colour: sky, land, and water. Considering the artists' life travels (Paris, Russia, China, Morocco, Switzerland, Sweden, US, Nairobi and Egypt), this gesture to the universal language of colour may be a calculated exercise of an artwork to be understood despite borders, signs and politics.Giulio Turcato's significance in the post-war Italian art world has been repeatedly validated nationally and internationally. Nationally, through a dozen exhibitions at the Venice Biennale between 1949 and 1995, including two years with his own dedicated space. Internationally, with Documenta Kassel, State Gallery of Modern Art, Munich, MoMa and The Guggenheim, New York, and Musée de l'Athenée, Geneva, to name but a few.Simon Bhuiyan
Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra (reg. 1775-1823) seated on a palace terrace Kangra, early 19th Centurygouache and gold on paper, blue floral border, light pink stippled outer border, nagari identifying inscription verso 299 x 240 mm.Footnotes:ProvenanceFormerly in the collection of Anthony Powell (1935-2021), costume designer.The inscription on the reverse, identifying the sitter as Sansar Chand, has been verified by the late B. N. Goswamy (private communication with seller).Raja Sansar Chand appears frequently in Kangra painting, reflecting his position in that kingdom as a patron of art. The war with the Sikhs in 1803, and the Gurkha invasion of 1806 began the eclipse of his political power. The film and theatre costume designer Anthony Powell won three Academy Awards for his work, for Travels with My Aunt (1972), Death on the Nile (1978) and Tess (1979), and also worked on, inter alia, two of the Indiana Jones films, as well as Hook and 101 Dalmatians.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A raja seated smoking a hookah with attendants Chamba, circa 1700gouache and gold on paper, orange border, identifying inscription in takri script in upper border, nagari inscription verso 200 x 198 mm.Footnotes:The figure of the attendant with the flywhisk appears in a Chamba painting of two princes in discussion, dated circa 1680, then in the Archer Collection: see W. G. Archer, Visions of Courtly India, Washington 1976, pp. 20-21, no. 11. For a Chamba painting with seated figures, of a similar size and palette, but depicting Varva putra of raga malkos, see Christie's, Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds, 2nd May 2019, lot 141.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
An Abbasid marvered glass bottle Syria or Egypt, 8th/ 9th Centuryof globular form with cylindrical neck and flattened flaring mouth, the dark purple glass decorated with applied and marvered brownish red and yellow trail in a wavy spiral pattern 8.8 cm. highFootnotes:ProvenanceProperty from a Princely Collection, acquired at Christie's, Art of the Islamic and Indian World, 23 October 2007, Lot 80.Important Notice to BuyersSome countries, e.g., the US, prohibit or restrict the purchase by its citizens (wherever located) and/or the import of certain types of works of particular origins. As a convenience to buyers, Bonhams has marked with the symbol R all lots of Iranian (Persian) and Syrian origin. It is each buyer's responsibility to ensure that they do not bid on or import a lot in contravention of the sanctions or trade embargoes that apply to them.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * R* VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.R This lot is subject to import restrictions when shipped to the United States.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Six illustrated palm-leaf manuscript leaves from the Ramayana Orissa, late 17th CenturyOriya script incised on to palm leaves, double-sided, 6-8 lines of text to the page, all with incised illustrations with some use of colour, central piercing for thread tie, unbound, between perspex sheets 4.3 x 39 cm. and slightly smaller(6)Footnotes:ProvenanceFormerly with M. Desai (February 1993).Distinguished European collection.The earliest known Orissan palm leaf manuscript dates to circa 1690, for which see S. C. Welch, India: Art and Culture, 1300-1900, New York 1985, pp. 62-63, no. 26, as well as a discussion of the type in general. For three examples in the British Library, see J. P. Losty, The Art of the Book in India, London 1982,pp. 137-138, nos. 115-118: a Gitagovinda, a Radhakrishnakeli, and two manuscripts of the tenth canto of the Bhagavata Purana, all late 17th or 18th Century).Palm leaves were dried, flattened and then polished and burnished. The text and illustrations were incised into the surface with great skill and care, since the stylus had to be applied with the right amount of pressure to avoid breaking the leaf. The incisions were then often rubbed with soot or charcoal, and colour was then added. See L. Y. Leach, Indian Miniature Paintings and Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1986, pp. 238-241, no. 96, for a double-sided illustrated leaf from a manuscript of the Ramayana, dated to the late 18th Century.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A prince in a white dhoti holding a rose, preparing for puja Bundi or Kotah, late 17th/early 18th Centurygouache and gold on paper, orange border 298 x 191 mm.Footnotes:ProvenanceRoyal collection, Bikaner (stamp on reverse).Sotheby's New York, Indian and Southeast Asian Art, 20th March 1997, lot 355 (where described as Mandi, late 18th Century).With Sam Fogg, London.Private UK collection.The figure bears a strong facial resemblance to a portrait of circa 1670 of Madho Singh, the first official ruler of Kotah between 1631 and 1645 (in the collection of Vinod Krishna Kanoria, illustrated in S. C. Welch, Gods, Kings and Tigers: the Art of Kotah, New York 1997, p. 42, fig. 3). He was a native of Bundi who was placed in his position by Shah Jahan, at which point Kotah was separated from Bundi and became independent. He served with distinction in the Mughal forces.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A Safavid brass Qibla indicator and horizontal dial Persia, 17th/ 18th Centuryof rectangular form on four waisted feet, engraved with hour lines, place names, cardinal directions and meridian line 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 cm.Footnotes:Inscriptions: the city names Mosul, Erbil, Samarra, Dumdum, Baghdad, Kufa, Tabriz, Kermanshah, Hamadan, Qazvin, Golpayegan, Qom, Kashan, Mazinan, Isfahan, Nishabur, Mashhad, Tun, Tabas, Shiraz, Herat, Qayen, Kerman, Badakhshan, Narmashir, Bam, Qandahar, Hurmuz, Multan, Thanesar, Hyderabad, Ajmer, the port of Surat, Dawlatabad, Somnath, Burhanpur, Sarandib (the island of Sri Lanka).The present lot is an instrument which performs two vital functions for prayer, in both indicating the 'equal hours' and the qibla direction. For further information and a comparable example in the Khalili Collection, see Francis Maddison and Emilie Savage-Smith, Science Tools and Magic, Part One, Oxford, 1997, pp. 272-274, no. 163. For an example sold at Christie's, see Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds Including Oriental Rugs and Carpets, 27 April 2023, lot 33.Important Notice to BuyersSome countries, e.g., the US, prohibit or restrict the purchase by its citizens (wherever located) and/or the import of certain types of works of particular origins. As a convenience to buyers, Bonhams has marked with the symbol R all lots of Iranian (Persian) and Syrian origin. It is each buyer's responsibility to ensure that they do not bid on or import a lot in contravention of the sanctions or trade embargoes that apply to them.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: RR This lot is subject to import restrictions when shipped to the United States.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
An opaque turquoise glass jug Persia or Egypt, 11th/ 12th Centuryof compressed globular form on short splayed foot with cylindrical neck and strap handle with a slight knop 8.4 cm. highFootnotes:ProvenanceProperty from a Princely Collection, acquired at Christie's, Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds, 17 April 2007, lot 49.The use of opaque turquoise glass within early Islamic vessels is very rare. One notable example, a bowl with hares, dated to the 9th/ 10th Century is in the treasury of Saint Mark, Venice (see D. Whitehouse, 'Cut and Engraved Glass', in S. Carboni & D. Whitehouse, Glass of the Sultans, New York, 2001, pp. 176-178, Cat. 83). For an example of an opaque turquoise glass jug sold at Christie's, see Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds, 8 April 2008, lot 51.Important Notice to BuyersSome countries, e.g., the US, prohibit or restrict the purchase by its citizens (wherever located) and/or the import of certain types of works of particular origins. As a convenience to buyers, Bonhams has marked with the symbol R all lots of Iranian (Persian) and Syrian origin. It is each buyer's responsibility to ensure that they do not bid on or import a lot in contravention of the sanctions or trade embargoes that apply to them.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: RR This lot is subject to import restrictions when shipped to the United States.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Maharao Ram Singh II (reg. 1827-66) performing a ceremony before Sri Nath-Ji Kotah, circa 1840-50gouache, gold and silver on paper, red outer border, nagari inscription in upper border 346 x 242 mm.Footnotes:The inscription reads: Shree Brajanath ji, 'The Holy Lord of Braj'.For several similar compositions of the early 1830s depicting Ram Singh's predecessor, the devout Kishore Singh (reg. 1819-27), see S. C. Welch (ed.), Gods, Kings and Tigers: the Art of Kotah, 1997, pp. 186-201, nos. 55-62.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A black schist stele depicting Bhairava East India, Pala Period, 11th/ 12th Centurystanding in pratyalidhasana, with four arms, two holding a dagger and a severed head, the other two raised aloft holding an elephant skin, with third eye, wearing a skull garland and a dhoti, mounted excluding stand 24.5 cm. highFootnotes:ProvenanceSotheby's, Indian, Himalayan and South-East Asian Art, 24 November 1986, lot 165.Private Belgian collection acquired at J. Tucker & A. Tozer Asian Art, London, on the 7th of July 2003, and thence by descent.The deity depicted is probably Bhairava, a form of Shiva, who is often depicted holding the severed head of the God Brahma. For a 10th century bronze of Bhairava holding a severed head, see Imma Ramos, Tantra: Enlightenment to Revolution, London, 2020, pp. 28-9, fig. 12. The inclusion of the elephant skin in the present lot may also be an allusion to Shiva's defeat of the elephant demon Gajasurasamhara. A Buddhist statue of Chakrasamvara in the British Museum, London, incorporates many of Bhairava's characteristics, thus aligning him with the deity (Inv. No. 1976,0927.1). This statue also features an elephant skin being stretched out behind him. For a 19th century painting of the Goddess Bhairavi, depicted with impaled elephants, see the catalogue for the exhibition, Tantra, Hayward Gallery, London, 1971, p. 42, fig. 168. For steles of Bhairava sold at auction, see Sotheby's, Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Works of Art, 20 September 2021, lot 365; and Christie's, Indian ad Southeast Asian Art Including Property from the Collections of Ariane Dandois and Robert H. Ellsworth, 21 September 2007, lot 88.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A carved relief sandstone Panel North or Central India, 8th/9th Centurycarved in high relief, the columns divided into niches, the left column depicting four seated matrika goddesses, with boar-headed Varahi and the fearsome Chamunda identifiable in the second and fourth niches; the central column with a gana or attendant holding up a seated female deity, a yakshi or river goddess below; right-hand column with seated Ganesha above, a male deity possibly Shiva as Gajasamhara slaying an elephant, and a vyala below, on stand 68 cm. high, 128 cm. including standFootnotes:ProvenancePrivate UK collection since circa 1960.Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 6th October 2015, lot 100.Private UK collection, 2015-present.The matrikas are 'mother goddesses' usually depicted as a group of seven - Indrani, Brahamani, Maheshvari, Kaumari, Varahi, Vaishnavi and Chamunda. They embody the energies of male gods and were created by Devi, the Great Goddess, to combat demons. They are usually seen on temple doorways, depicted with a form of Shiva and his son, Ganesha. For further discussion, see V. Desai, D. Mason (ed.), Gods, Guardians and Lovers: Temple Sculptures from North India AD 700-1200, New York 1993, pp. 246-247, no. 62.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Four Qajar lacquer penboxes (qalamdans) Persia, 19th Centuryeach with rounded ends and sliding tray, variously decorated in polychrome and gilt with figural scenes and portraits the largest 23.8 cm. long(4)Footnotes:ProvenancePrince Masoud Mirza Yamin al-Dawla Zill al-Sultan (1850-1918), and thence by descent.The first decorated in polychrome and gilt, depicting scenes from the tale of Khosrow and Shirin, the cartouches to the sides interspersed by roundels containing portraits, the base with floral interlace on a red ground, the sides of inner tray with further floral interlace on a red ground, signed to top, 22.1 cm. long.Inscriptions: the repeat of ya 'ali, 'O 'Ali!'. Spurious signature, kamtarin nasr 'ali, 'The most humble, Nasr 'Ali'.For a group of album pages containing comparable scenes sold in these rooms, see Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 29 March 2022, lot 130.The second with cartouches and roundels containing images of Sufi Shaykhs with inscriptions, on a ground of foliate interlace, the base with floral sprays on a black ground, the sides of inner tray with further foliate sprays on a black ground, 23.6 cm. long.Inscriptions:To the top: Mi Mas'um 'Ali Shah, Baba 'Abdullah, Shams-i Tabrizi, Mawlavi (i.e. Jalal al-Din Rumi), Mahv 'Ali Shah, Sa'di, Sultan Salim.Around the sides: various shaykhs including: Shaykh 'Abu'l-Hasan, Majzub 'Ali Shah, Hafiz, Baba Kuhi, Ansari, Kabuli, Mushtaq 'Ali Shah, Palang 'Ali Shah, Ibrahim Adham, Qutb al-Din, Baba Tahir.The third decorated in polychrome and gilt with seven cartouches depicting scenes from the story of Bahram Gur in the seven pavilions, interspersed by further cartouches containing portraits of couples and individuals, all on a ground of foliate and floral designs, the base with large foliate spray on a black ground, with further foliate sprays to sides of inner tray, 23.1 cm. long.The fourth decorated in polychrome and gilt with hunting scenes, the base with foliate designs on a red ground, the sides of inner tray with foliate sprays on a red ground, 23.8 cm. long.Important Notice to BuyersSome countries, e.g., the US, prohibit or restrict the purchase by its citizens (wherever located) and/or the import of certain types of works of particular origins. As a convenience to buyers, Bonhams has marked with the symbol R all lots of Iranian (Persian) and Syrian origin. It is each buyer's responsibility to ensure that they do not bid on or import a lot in contravention of the sanctions or trade embargoes that apply to them.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: RR This lot is subject to import restrictions when shipped to the United States.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A gem-set enamelled gold navratna armband (bazuband) India, 20th Centurythe central element of hexagonal form with hinged foliate element to each side, applied floral element to each part, pendant drop elements to lower edge, set with gems including emerald, sapphires, diamonds, coral and varicoloured gemstones, the reverse decorated in polychrome enamel with birds and floral decoration 11.5 x 5 cm. excluding drops; 90.7 gFootnotes:ProvenanceBonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 28 April 2005, lot 644.Private UK collection.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A large leaf from a dispersed Qur'an written in kufic script on vellum North Africa or Andalusia, 9th-10th CenturyArabic manuscript on vellum, 14 lines to the page written in elegant kufic script in brown ink with vowel points in red, pyramids of gold dots marking the verse-endings, khams marker a gold cusped roundel with coloured dots 245 x 330 mm.Footnotes:TextQur'an, sura VII, al-A'raf, parts of verse 49 to most of verse 56.A bifolium from this same Qur'an manuscript was sold at Christie's, Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds, 26th April 2012, lot 55; and a single leaf on 27th April 2017, lot 23; and single leaf at Sotheby's, Arts of the Islamic World and India, 30th March 2022, lot 3.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A painting from a Baramasa series, depicting Radha and Krishna celebrating the Tej festival during the month of Sravan, with female devotees carrying statues of Parvati Bundi, circa 1780gouache and gold on paper, red border 287 x 210 mm.Footnotes:ProvenanceSotheby's, Fine Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, 15th October 1984, lot 77 (illustrated).For a Bundi painting of the same subject, with a very similar composition, see Sotheby's, Arts of the Islamic World and India, 30th March 2022, lot 59 (which had previously appeared at Sotheby's, Fine Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, 15th-16th April 1985, lot 463). There Radha and Krishna are seen twice, embracing amongst the trees in the background, and then in the upper floor of the pavilion, as in our painting. At the base of the pavilion a group of women are carrying a statue of Parvati as part of the celebrations for the festival of Tej, which is dedicated to the goddess and her union with Shiva, and it also ushers in the monsoon season, in the month of Sravan (late July-late August).Such paintings derive from the text of the Baramasa (songs of the seasons, or twelve months) written by the 16th Century poet, Keshavdas. A slightly earlier Bundi painting of 1680-1700 depicting the month of Sravan, is in the British Museum (see R. Ahluwalia, Rajput Painting, London 2008, p. 69, no. 35). For a painting depicting Asadh (the month prior to Sravan), attributed to Bundi or Kotah, mid-18th Century, and formerly in the collection of Dr Claus Virch, see Sotheby's New York, Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Works of Art, 16th March 2016, lot 812.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A bronze figure of Krishna the butter thief Tamil Nadu, Vijayanagara Period, 14th-16th Centurydepicted as a crawling infant, his right hand raised to the front holding a ball of butter 9.9 cm. highFootnotes:The sculpture depicts Krishna as an infant wearing a charm box around his chest to protect him from evil. His hair is drawn up in a headdress characteristic for the subject in the Vijayanagara period (14th-17th Centuries). A comparative example is in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LA (M.72.1.16). For a 16th Century copper alloy example see Bonhams New York, Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art, 23 July 2020, lot 828.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A butcher at work, attributed to the artist Bishan Singh (circa 1836-1900) Punjab, probably Amritsar, circa 1860-70gouache and gold on paper, blue margin rules 262 x 202 mm.Footnotes:ProvenancePrivate collection, USA: acquired at an antiques market in Paris.Bishan Singh came from a family of artists operating in Lahore and Amritsar in the second half of the 19th century, who were also known to have worked in the neighbouring princely states of Kapurthala, Patiala and Nabha. The family were responsible for painting and maintaining the murals and motifs on the walls of the Sikh holiest shrine, the Golden Temple, and it is there that Bishan (and his brother Kishan Singh) learnt their trade. A self portrait of the artist was sold in these rooms, Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 25th October 2007, lot 483. At the exhibition of arts and crafts held at Lahore in 1864, Bishan Singh showed ten pictures including durbars of Ranjit Singh and Sher Singh, as well as group of paintings on the production of Kashmir shawls. Baden-Powell and Percy Brown commented that Bishan Singh's works were the 'most clever and truthful paintings' in the exhibition, the artist being awarded top merits amongst the paintings submitted to jury; 'the colour is tasteful and rich and likenesses are good and the expression is varied and truthful' (B. H. Baden-Powell, Handbook of the Manufactures and Arts of the Punjab, Lahore 1872, pp. 354-55; quoted in W. G. Archer, Paintings of the Sikhs, London 1966, p. 61). The durbar scene of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the Toor Collection was among the ten works - see D. Toor, In Pursuit of Empire, London 2018, pp. 92-95.Most recently, a very similar work of similar size and composition, attributed to Bishan Singh, depicting Kashmiri weavers, sold at Christie's New York, Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art, 20th March 2024, lot 561. A painting depicting the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, ascribed to Bishan Singh, Lahore or Amritsar, and dated VS 1927/AD 1870-71, sold at Sotheby's, Arts of the Islamic World and India, 31 March 2021, lot 44.Christie's, Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds, 31st March 2022, lot 98, depicting the Amritsar Municipal Committee, by Bishan Singh, dated VS 1940/AD 1883-84.Sotheby's, Arts of the Islamic World and India, 24th April 2024, lot 139, depicting weavers arranging shawls in bales, by a Sikh artist, style of Bishan Singh, North India, Amritsar or Lahore, circa 1860-70.Other examples include:Christie's, Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Miniatures and Works of Art, 10th October 1989, lot 73 (Musicians and dancers before Maharajah Sher Singh, signed and dated VS 1931/AD 1874), and lot 74 (Procession of Maharajah Sher Singh and the young princes, signed, circa 1875).S. Canby, Princes, Poets and Paladins, London 1998, pp. 185-186, nos. 144 and 145. For unattributed works of tradespeople in a similar style, see: Sotheby's, Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, 26th April 1995, lots 159 and 160, both depicting Kashmir shawl weavers, Lahore, circa 1866.Simon Ray, Indian and Islamic Works of Art, April 2007, no. 59, depicting Kashmir shawl weavers, Lahore, circa 1866; and another shawl-weaving workshop, Lahore, circa 1866, November 2019, no. 52.A comparable painting of a shawl weaving workshop by Bishan Singh, dated to 1874, is in the collection of the Musée Guimet, Paris (MA 12702).Five works, there attributed to Bishan Singh, including four or tradespeople in the same vertical format as our painting, are in the Parvinder Khanuja collection: see Splendors of Punjab Heritage, Paradise Valley 2022, pp./ 390-391, nos. 49-53.A work depicting women in a cart is in the Toor Collection, London (Toor, op.cit., p.282).This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Hugo Vilfred Pedersen (Danish, 1870-1959) Head Study of a Sikh bodyguard to the Maharajah of Burdwanoil on canvas, signed upper right 39.5 x 27 cm.Footnotes:ProvenanceWith Hallis & Co., Fine Art Dealers, Main Street, Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha), South Africa.Private collection, South Africa.For a very similar composition, of almost the same size, a tightly-framed portrait study of a Sikh bodyguard of the Maharajah of Burdwan, see the sale in these rooms, Islamic and Indian Art, 25th October 2022, lot 157. For a Sikh figure wearing a different coloured turban, but in a similar composition, see Islamic and Indian Art Online Sale, 4th-18th June 2019, lot 85. A similar portrait of the sitter in our painting was with Bruun Rasmussen, Denmark, 27th September 2001, lot 1109.A group of studies by Pedersen, including two of the same sitter once again, was at Sotheby's, Exotica: East Meets West, 1500-1900, 25th May 2005, lot 142: an oil sketch, inscribed Fyrstelivtjener i Burdwan (portrait of a servant at Burdwan); and a charcoal study, inscribed Burdwan India, Livvagt Sergeant.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A Timurid moulded pottery mihrab tile fragment Central Asia, second half of the 14th Centurycomprising the lower part of a large palmette, carved and decorated in cobalt-blue, turquoise and white with scrolling foliate interlace and split palmettes, framed with printed upper section from another similar tile mounted above 39.5 x 31.5 cm. Footnotes:ProvenancePrivate UK collection formed in the 1950s and 60s. PublishedArts from the Land of Timur, Sogdiana Books, 2012, no. 465, p. 222.Similar mihrab-shaped arches can be seen at the Mausoleum of an Anonymous Woman in the Shah-e Zende necropolis complex in Samarkand, illustrated in Jean Soustiel and Yves Porter's book Tombs of Paradise: The Shah-e Zende in Samarkand and architectural ceramics of Central Asia, 2003 p, 87. Another example is found in the Sadberk Hanim Museum, Istanbul, as illustrated in Hülya Bilgi's book Reunited after centuries: Works of art restored to Turkey by the Sadberk Hanim Museum, 2005, pp. 28-29, cat. no. 4.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Prince Kamrup at the head of a troop of cavalry attacking a demon Bengal, circa 1780gouache and gold on paper, inscribed verso in Persian and English 175 x 250 mm.Footnotes:ProvenancePrivate Scottish collection until 2014.Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 5th November 2014, lot 379.With Francesca Galloway, Into the Indian Mind, London 2015, no. 22.Private UK collection.The Persian inscription verso reads tasvir-i Kamrup, 'picture of Kamrup', and the English transliteration Kamroop.The unusual and dramatic subject derives from an Indian romance in which Prince Kamrup seeks out his beloved, Princess Kamalata, over the course of various adventures, battles and shipwrecks. They are finally united. Persian and Urdu versions of such Indian stories became popular, especially in Bengal. An illustrated manuscript of the text Dastur-i Himmat, The Model of Resolution, originally composed in 1685, was produced in Bengal circa 1760, containing 209 paintings (now in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin: see L. Y. Leach, Mughal and other Indian Paintings in the Chester Beatty Library, London 1995, pp. 623-654). Some elements of such work, the product of the Bengal courts, appear in our painting, such as the figures and their profiles against a plain ground.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A rare and large Qajar metal-thread embroidered, pearl-encrusted wool 'royal' termeh panel Persia, 19th Centuryof rectangular form, the woven wool ground with a repeat design of boteh motifs, decorated in appliqué silver-gilt thread and seed-pearl decoration with a floral spray to each corner and further smaller sprays to the centre at each side, the border with a scrolling floral vine, satin backing 167 x 116 cm.Footnotes:ProvenanceBonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 1 May 2003, lot 440.The Shakerine Collection.Important Notice to BuyersSome countries, e.g., the US, prohibit or restrict the purchase by its citizens (wherever located) and/or the import of certain types of works of particular origins. As a convenience to buyers, Bonhams has marked with the symbol R all lots of Iranian (Persian) and Syrian origin. It is each buyer's responsibility to ensure that they do not bid on or import a lot in contravention of the sanctions or trade embargoes that apply to them.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: RR This lot is subject to import restrictions when shipped to the United States.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A fine Iznik rimless pottery dish Turkey, circa 1575of shallow rounded form on a short foot, decorated in cobalt-blue, turquoise, raised red, green and black on a white ground with a central cypress tree flanked by saz leaves interspersed by floral sprays and two roses with looping stems, all encircled by a band of half flowerheads to the rim, the exterior with paired tulips interspersed by flowerheads, with fitted box 29.8 cm. diam.Footnotes:ProvenanceOliver Hoare (1945-2018)Private Belgian collection acquired at Mansour Gallery on the 18th of November 2009 and thence by descent.PublishedThe Unity of Islamic Art, Exhibition Catalogue, Riyadh, 1985, no. 130.ExhibitedThe Unity of Islamic Art, The King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, Riyadh, 1985.The cypress tree as a decorative element was first used in blue and white on hexagonal tiles in the mosque of Murad II in Edirne around 1435, probably influenced by porcelain motifs of the Yuan period in China. In a religious architectural context the cypress tree can be used to relate to the first letter of the alphabet, 'alif. On dishes it appears in the third quarter of the 16th Century and forms a distinct part of the decorative theme of the garden. Examples of dishes featuring this motif are in the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon (Inv. Nos. 828, 840 & 843).For a similar rimless dish with a cypress tree flanked by roses and saz leaves see Christie's, Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds, 21 April 2016, lot 179. For a rimless pottery dish, dated 1560-70, with a similar band of partial flowerheads to the rim see Sotheby's Arts of the Islamic World, 26 April 2017, lot 222. For other examples of sold at auction in recent years see Sotheby's, Arts of the Islmaic World and India, 25 October 2023, lot 71; and Christie's, Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds including Oriental Rugs and Carpets, 26 October 2017, lot 206.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A Vallabhacharya priest standing in a landscape holding a lotus flower Kishangarh, circa 1820gouache and gold on paper, gold border 163 x 95 mm.Footnotes:ProvenanceChristie's, Islamic Art, Indian Miniatures, Rugs and Carpets, London, 8th-9th October 1991, lot 30.Heil Collection, Berlin, 1991-2016.The inscription on the reverse reads: koṭāṃbāre, the meaning of which is unclear, but is probably the name of the priest.The priest's forehead is decorated with a Vaishnava tilak. His right hand holds a lotus, and in his left he has a bidi or pan preparation. The Kishangarh rulers were followers of the Vallabha or Pushtimarg cult and worshipped Krishna under the form Madanmohanji, while their personal deity Kalyanraiji was given to Raja Rup Singh by Gopinath Dikshit, the grandson of Vitthalnathji.For three similar paintings of priests at Kishangarh, see Christie's, Images of Rajasthan: a private collection of Indian paintings, (online), 17th-27th May 2016, lots 61-63. For similar landscape backgrounds in small Kishangarh paintings of the mid-18th Century see J. P. Losty, Indian Miniatures from the James Ivory Collection, Francesca Galloway, London 2010, nos. 40 & 41). For a painting of a woman standing on a terrace with a similar green hill behind her, which is attributed to Dalchand working at Kishangarh, see T. McInerney, 'Dalchand', in M. C. Beach, E. Fischer, B. N. Goswamy, Masters of Indian Painting, Zürich 2011, p. 577, fig. 13.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A Deccani lacquer penbox India, 17th Centuryof rectangular form with curved ends, of papier-mâché and wood decorated in polychrome and gold with a landscape scene containing trees and buildings, overlaid with large split palmettes, to the lid and the sides of the body, the sides of the lid with undulating foliate vines, the base with sprigs of flowering plants, the inner lid with three cartouches and two rosettes 26 cm. longFootnotes:Examples of lacquer work from the Deccan are rare. The large-scale landscape scene portrayed on the present lot is particularly unusual, in contrast to the figural illustrations or gol-o-bulbul motifs that are more commonly known in lacquer work from Persia and India. The gold scrollwork decoration on black ground on the side of the lid, however, is typical of Persian and Indian lacquer penboxes and also features in the work of the well-known seventeenth-century artist Rahim Deccani (see: Nasser D. Khalili, B.W. Robinson and Tim Stanley, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Arts: Lacquer of the Islamic Lands Part 1, London: The Nour Foudnation, 1996, pp.243-245)The medallion and cartouche motifs on the lid interior are evocative of Persian book cover decoration, and a similar design also features on the interior wall of the tomb of Ahmad Shah Bahmani I of the Bahmani Sultanate (Navina Najat Haidar and Marika Sardar, Sultans of Deccan India, 1500-1700 : Opulence and Fantasy, New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale University Press, 2015, p. 33, cat. 25).For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A large painting depicting Old Court House Street, Calcutta, after the print by Thomas Daniell Chinese School, probably Canton, 19th Centurygouache on paper, Chinese patterned silk border, framed 137.5 x 210 cm.; with frame 150 x 225 cm.Footnotes:ProvenanceA private San Francisco collection, assembled in the 1960s and 70s.Bonhams, San Francisco, Fine Asian Works of Art, 29th June 2009, lot 8281.In the collection of Ed Hardy, San Francisco.Abell Auction Company, Los Angeles, USA, March 2023.Our painting was probably executed between 1820 and 1860, on the basis of comparison with the development of Chinese oil paintings depicting Canton. From the late 18th Century views of the waterfront there were produced by local artists for western merchants and ship owners visiting the port. At first they were painted in bodycolour on paper, fine linens or silk, but canvas and oil paints appear to have been introduced to the Cantonese artists' studios in the last quarter of the 18th century.William Sargent notes: 'Exactly how Chinese artists learned western techniques and what their attitudes were towards their customers is not known [...] There are no records of East Asian artists studying under western teachers, other than in schools established in Asia by the Church specifically for the production of religious art. However, European artists did visit Asia, and their presence in coastal trading ports eventually influenced local imitators. It is more likely, however, that Asian artists learned western techniques from copying prints, book illustrations or other secondary sources'. A watercolour from a series of one hundred, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, depicting trades, produced in Canton, circa 1790, shows a Chinese artist painting on to glass with a European engraving propped up in front of him (see William R. Sargent, 'Asia in Europe: Chinese Paintings for the West', in A. Jackson, A. Jaffer (edd.), Encounters: the Meeting of Asia and Europe, 1500-1800, London 2004, pp. 274-275, and plate 21.2). For another example, circa 1800, see P. Conner, Paintings of the China Trade: the Sze Yuan Tang Collection of Historic Paintings, Hong Kong 2013, p. 118, no. 103.A Chinese porcelain dish of circa 1795 bears a design derived from an English engraving of 1794 of Fort William (the Company settlement which became Calcutta); the service of which the dish was part was probably produced for export to India for the use of Company employees (see P. Conner, The China Trade, 1600-1860, Brighton 1986, pp. 100-101, nos. 135 and 136). A second example is a painting on linen or silk by a Chinese artist of the late 18th Century, after a print depicting Stockholm harbour by the Swedish artist Olaf Jacobsson Arre (1731-1809). Conner notes that 'while following the original engraving in most respects, the Cantonese export artist has lent a decidedly Chinese quality to some of the ships in the harbour' (see P. Conner, op. cit. (2013), p. 85, no. 74).The copying of a Daniell print here represents an interesting complication of the direction of influence, for the Daniells were amongst the first British artists to visit China (in their case, on their homeward journey from India in 1793-94 as part of a convoy including Lord Macartney, himself returning from an embassy). Thomas Daniell produced views of the waterfront at Canton (from which prints were derived): see P. Conner, The Hongs of Canton: Western Merchants in South China, 1700-1900, as seen in Chinese Export Paintings, London 2009, pp. 61-63, and figs. 2.33 and 2.34. However, as Sargent and Conner note, prints and illustrations seem to have been the main source for the Asian artists.The Cantonese artists, in their frequent depictions of the Hongs (waterfront offices and warehouses) at Canton and the European 'factories' there, were used to portraying streets and buildings, as well as the population filling them: see, most strikingly in relation to our painting, an 1807 work showing a street scene with officials arriving outside the hongs before the trial of European seamen in Canton (see P. Conner, 2013, p. 142, no. 127). Here then, in our painting, they combine their source in a European print with the sort of scenes they were already painting of their home background - while doubtless being aware of the commercial possibilities of producing a view of Calcutta for British consumption. While our painting is still in gouache on paper, its scale is clearly related to a new familiarity with Western oil paintings of the late 18th Century.The view in our painting is a close copy of the print (coloured etching with aquatint) depicting Old Court House Street from the north, no. 9 from Thomas Daniell's Views of Calcutta, 1788 (illustrated in, for example, M. Archer, Early Views of India: the Picturesque Journeys of Thomas and William Daniell 1786-1794, London 1980, fig. 12; or J. P. Losty, Calcutta: City of Palaces, London 1990, p. 57, fig. 27).Archer writes in his caption:Old Court House Street ran north-south from the Old Court House in Tank Square along the eastern side of Government House to the Maidan. Its comfortable mansions of many different designs are set in compounds on either side of the road. The street is busy with varying forms of Indian and British transport - an elephant, a canopied bullock carriage, sedan chairs, palanquins and carriages. People of many types, including an ascetic, mingle in the road.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
The Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah I (reg. 1707-1712) at a balcony holding a flower Sawar, circa 1710gouache and gold on paper 307 x 257 mm.Footnotes:Sawar was founded during the reign of Jahangir, and continued under strong Mughal influence, so both the subject of this painting, and its jharoka format are no surprise. In other respects Sawar painting was influenced by its geographical proximity to Amber, Mewar, Bundi and Kotah. For a painting of Maharajah Raj Singh at a garden balcony, circa 1710-15, see A. Topsfield, Visions of Mughal India: the Collection of Howard Hodgkin, Oxford 2012, pp. 210-211, no. 89; and for other examples of Sawar paintings, and a discussion of the style and subject-matter, see A. Topsfield, M. C. Beach, Indian Paintings and Drawings from the Collection of Howard Hodgkin, London 1992, pp. 66-69, nos. 23 and 24.For examples at auction, see Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 7th October 2010, lot 295 (a prince holding a flower at a balcony window); and Christie's, An Eye Enchanted: Indian Paintings from the Collection of Toby Falk, 27th October 2023, lot 38 (the Emperor Jahangir).This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
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