London, April 06: A unique six-foot high, life-size portrait of Mughal Emperor Jahangir, billed as one of the rarest and most desirable 17th century paintings ever to go under the hammer, sold for a whopping 1.42 million pounds (Rs 10 crore) at an auction here.
The portrait, attributed to Abu’l Hasan, Nadir al-Zaman and dated 1617 AD was one of the top lots at Bonhams Indian and Islamic Sale yesterday and went to a Middle Eastern museum. The sale total was 2.7 million pounds, which included an inscribed 18th century Mughal emerald seal owned by an officer of the East India Company that fetched 90,000 pounds.
The Jahangir portrait in gouache heightened with gold leaf on a fine woven cotton canvas shows the emperor, who reigned from 1605-1627, seated on a European-style throne.
-Agencies