Longon, March 02: The largest known Mughal painting in the world — a life- size portrait of emperor Jehangir, who ruled from 1605 to 1627 — will go under the hammer at the auction house Bonhams of London on April 5. And predictably, the auctioneers expect big bucks, which is why they have set the base price, below which no bid will be accepted, at £ 1 million ( ` 7.3 crore).
Painted in the style of a European portrait of the early 1600s, the painting is attributed to the contemporary artist, Abul Hasan, who belonged to Delhi and was better known as Nadir al- Zaman, or ‘ Wonder of the Age’. It was the emperor who had bestowed this grandiose title on his favourite painter. Abul Hasan’s main task was to document events at the imperial court and this resulted in many striking portraits, like the one being auctioned.
Previously displayed at the National Portrait Gallery, London, last year, the painting shows Jehangir seated on a gilded throne holding a globe, and wearing elaborate robes and jewellery.
The surrounding Persian inscription says it was painted in the year 1617 in Mandu, also known as Mandavgarh, which was a strategically important city in present Madhya Pradesh known for its fine historical architecture — and the 15th- century story of Baz Bahadur’s romance with Roopmati.
“ This is the largest and one of the rarest 17th- century paintings ever to come to auction,” says Alice Bailey, who heads the Indian and Islamic Art department at Bonhams. “ There is no other work of its size and kind known, and its importance cannot be underestimated.” Bailey’s team has been holding such auctions for over 20 years, covering a wide variety of art and artefacts dating from the ninth century to the 19th. The last big- ticket auction of an Indian artefact by Bonhams was that of a bust of Maharaja Duleep Singh ( 1838- 93), which went for £ 1.7 million ( ` 12.45 crore) in April 2007.
Interestingly, the number of international buyers for rare Indian art and artefacts has gone up substantially, and Bonhams seems to be cashing in on this surge in worldwide interest. Which is why this particular painting of Jehangir holds a special place in the Bonhams calendar for this year.
–Agencies