ISLAMIC & INDIAN ART

A MIDDLE EASTERN JOURNEY

Hot like the sun in the desert, refreshing like the rosewater sprinklers used at the court of Indian maharajas.

Our A Middle Eastern Journey auction just landed online, and it brings to you oasis and palms, journeys on camels and elephants, ancient ruins, strong Turkish coffee and Iranian gaz treats, sailing tours of the Mediterranean, musical entertainment and religious processions in India, and colourful carpets.

 

Our auction includes a vast selection of artworks, paintings, textile and costumes, furniture, and ethnographic objects from across Europe, North Africa, the Mediterranean shores, the Middle East, all the way to India, including a private collection of Company School paintings on both paper and mica, and several important Orientalist paintings.

 

Moreover, in concurrence to the 25th Anniversary of Asian Art In London, we will be hosting a ‘Show and Tell’ event on Friday 1st July in our new gallery space at the Barley Mow Centre. For further details, do not hesitate to get in touch via email (ghislaine@chiswickauctions.co.uk).

A MICA PAINTING OF AN ENTERTAINMENT SCENE WITH MUSICIANS AND DANCERS
Murshidabad, West Bengal, Eastern India, ca. 1820 - 1840

Opaque pigments on mica, the large panel in horizontal format depicting a ruler seated on a gold-embroidered floorspread, smoking from a huqqa (waterpipe) whilst being entertained by a pair of female dancers accompanied by a large crowd of musicians with classical Indian musical instruments including dholak (drums), and stringed instruments like a sarangi and a sitar, the scene taking place under a vermilion red tent suggesting an outdoor setting, mounted on a white cardboard frame, 22.6cm x 18cm.

The tradition of mica painting was well-practiced in Murshidabad since the late 18th century. Here, local artists had not only an abundance of material, mostly derived from Chota Nagpur, to the west of Murshidabad, but also a long-standing experience in working with this mineral. Indeed, Murshidabad artists were renowned for their beautiful and extravagant mica lamps and ornamental constructions, mainly built for the celebrations of Muslim festivals. When the royal patronage of the local Nawabs started declining, the local painters sought new sources of income and employed their techniques to paint autochthonous subjects and daily life scenes as export goods for Western travellers, who appreciated them greatly (Mildred Archer, Company Drawings in the India Office Library, 1972, p. 61). 

For a useful comparison with very similar mica paintings depicting ceremonies and outdoor processions and attributed to the same period as ours, please see Christie's New York, The Collection of Paul F. Walter, 21 - 28 September 2017, lot 661; and more recently, Christie's London, 25 June 2020, lot 108.


 Estimate £500 - £700

A PORTRAIT OF A KHITMUTGAR (TABLE SERVANT)
PROPERTY FROM A LONDON PRIVATE COLLECTION

Company School in the Fraser album style, Delhi or Haryana, Northern India, ca. 1820 - 1840


Opaque pigments and ink on wove paper, the vertical portrait depicting a standing white-clad Indian male servant, most probably a khitmutgar (table servant), holding up a large tray full of exotic fruits and flowers in an offering gesture, two sepia ink annotations at the top and bottom of the folio reading in English Footman and Kedmutgar, mounted, framed and glazed, the folio 30.5cm x 21.5cm, 47.5cm x 38cm including the frame.

Estimate £400 - £600 

AN IZNIK POTTERY DISH WITH A SAZ LEAF AND RED CARNATIONS
Ottoman Turkey, ca. 1580 - 1620

Of shallow rounded shape, resting on a short circular foot, rising to a gently everted rim, painted in bole red in relief, cobalt blue and copper green, with black outlines, all against a white ground, the interior decorated with a central floral bouquet with tulips, carnations and roses stemming from a tuft of green grass, a tall saz leaf bending through the centre of the dish and filled with small rosettes, the rim decorated with a bold black Chinese-inspired rock-and-wave motif, the exterior with green and blue spiralling roundels against a plain white ground, 29cm diam.
 

Provenance: Previously from a Private Swiss Collection.

 Estimate £4,000 - £6,000

 

 

The auction is on Wednesday 13th July at 1pm. This live auction will be broadcast on our website where you are welcome to bid.

 

If you have any questions about the auction or require any additional information, please contact Beatrice Campi, Head of Islamic & Indian Art who will be happy to assist.

 

beatrice.campi@chiswickauctions.co.uk

  

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'SHOW AND TELL' AT THE BARLEY MOW
FRIDAY 1ST JULY

The Asian Art, and Islamic and Indian Art Departments at Chiswick Auctions are delighted to be part of the summer celebrations for Asian Art in London’s milestone 25th edition, taking place from 29th June to 2nd July. Come and join our Heads of Department, Beatrice Campi and Lazarus Halstead at lunchtime on Friday 1st July (1.30 – 2.30pm) for their ‘Show and Tell’ event, where they will take you on a journey involving trade, art and prestige as they explore cultural and artistic exchanges between the East and the West over a period of four centuries.