An emerald and seed pearl necklace worn by Maharani Jindan, the wife of Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh, sold for Rs 1.78 crore (£187,500) at Bonhams Islamic and Indian Art sale in London on Tuesday. It was among a number of select Sikh treasures on sale, and was estimated at Rs 75.9 lakh to Rs 1.13 crore (£80,000-£120,000).

A gold thread-embroidered, velvet-clad leather quiver and bow holder, almost certainly made for Maharaja Ranjit Singh, called the Lion of Punjab, fetched Rs 94.5 lakh (£100,000).

It is believed that the maharaja commissioned a quiver in 1838 to wear at the wedding of his eldest son and heir, Kharak Singh. He appears to be wearing this in a painting of the same year by French artist Alfred de Dreaux, now in the Louvre museum in Paris.

The necklace was said to have been frequently worn by Maharani Jindan. As regent to her five-year-old son, Duleep Singh, who was proclaimed the maharaja in 1843, the feisty Jindan organised an armed resistance to the British invasion but was imprisoned.

She escaped to Kathmandu where she was kept under house arrest by the king of Nepal before eventually moving to England. It was there that she was reunited with her son and her jewellery, including the necklace.

Maharani Jindan’s necklace. (HT Photo )

Fierce bidding

Oliver White, the head of the Indian and Islamic art at Bonhams, said the sale witnessed fierce and competitive bidding in the room, on the phones and over the net. “It was a highly successful sale, the Sikh treasures stood out with the pride of place going to the magnificent necklace from the fabled Lahore treasury that once belonged to the formidable and courageous Jindan Kaur.”

At Rs 1.18 crore (£125,000), the Lockwood Kipling album providing an insight into Punjab under the British rule also fetched a good price. Compiled by artist, curator and school administrator Lockwood Kipling – father of the poet and novelist Rudyard Kipling – this collection of 120 photographs provides a fascinating insight into India, particularly Punjab, in the last quarter of the 19th century.

Kipling lived and worked in India from 1865 until his retirement in 1893, and the album was put together while he was serving as principal of the Mayo School of Art, now the National College of Arts in Lahore (1875-1893), and curator of the Lahore Museum.

Miniatures did well

Pahari and Rajasthani miniatures also did well at the auction. The Samsara collection of Indian paintings, comprising 44 miniatures, which cover two main schools, Pahari and Rajasthani, from the 17th to the mid-19th centuries, and also some Mughal works, sold for a combined total of Rs 5.25 crore (£553,750).

A work, possibly illustrating the story of Madhavanala and Kamakandala, dated 1780 sold for about Rs 77 lakh (£81,250), and an illustration from the Sundar Shringar, also dated 1780, made Rs 65.2 lakh (£68,750).

Other highlights of the sale included an important Mughal emerald seal made for, and bearing the name of Marian Hastings, which sold for Rs 1.72 crore or £181,250 (estimate £20,000-30,000). Marian was the second wife of Warren Hastings, the first governor general of India (1773-85).

They met and fell in love during a voyage from Dover to Madras in 1769, but Marian was already married and was unable to obtain a divorce until 1777.

First Published: Oct 24, 2018 15:45 IST