Jehangir’s jade pendant, two Indian paintings go for Rs 10 cr in auctions
A rare painting of renowned classical dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai by Iraq’s most celebrated modernist painter Jewad Selim, an intricate painting of the great Indian fruit bat by artist Bhawani Das and a jade pendant worn by Mughal emperor Jehangir to control palpitations fetched prices many times more than estimated, at auctions in London this week of paintings and objects from medieval, colonial and modern period related to India.
Topping the list was the painting of a Great Indian fruit bat with a 1.5-metre wingspan by Patna-based artist Bhawani Das, which sold for £458,500 (Rs 4.60 crore). The painting was commissioned by Lady Mary Impey, wife of Sir Elijah Impey who was with the East India Company, and completed around 1780 by Das.
According to Christie’s, Jehangir’s teardrop jade pendant -- 6 cm long and 6.4 cm wide and engraved with a verse from the Quran - was meant to “cure the wearer of ‘palpitations’ including those of an emotional nature. Perhaps, in this instance, it was worn to give him strength in his attempts at taking power”. The pendant went for £290,000 .
Topping the list was the painting of a Great Indian fruit bat with a 1.5-metre wingspan by Patna-based artist Bhawani Das, which sold for £458,500 (Rs 4.60 crore). The painting was commissioned by Lady Mary Impey, wife of Sir Elijah Impey who was with the East India Company, and completed around 1780 by Das.
According to Christie’s, Jehangir’s teardrop jade pendant -- 6 cm long and 6.4 cm wide and engraved with a verse from the Quran - was meant to “cure the wearer of ‘palpitations’ including those of an emotional nature. Perhaps, in this instance, it was worn to give him strength in his attempts at taking power”. The pendant went for £290,000 .
Jewad Selim’s oil on canvas portrait of Sarabhai, which sold for £170,000 (Rs 1.71 crore) - twice the estimate - was painted after Selim met Sarabhai in London in 1949. At the time, Selim was at the Slade School of Art, while Sarabhai was there to perform at St Martin’s Theatre - her first appearance in London.
