A calligraphic document written by emperor Humayun to his son Akbar is among some of the rare treasures from Mughal, Safavid and Ottoman empires which will go under the hammer in London next month.
The international auction house Christie's will mark Islamic Art Week between October 7 and 10 with 700 lots covering works of art from the Mughal, Safavid and Ottoman empires. Among the Indian lots in the sale is the finely decorated calligraphic panel which, on further research by Christie's specialist team, was found to be a formal letter from the second ruler of the Mughal dynasty (1508-1556) to his son and future Mughal king Akbar.
"The official note requests that his eight-year-old son, later emperor Akbar, ask the ladies of his father's harem to be sent to him at his winter encampment. The document gives a rare insight into the private and domestic lives of these two major figures in India's history. It is offered for sale from a Princely Collection with an estimate of 5,000-8,000 pounds," Christie's said in a statement here today.
A blue glass dish from Mughal India, a courtly object and a rare survivor from the 18th century, also carries the same estimate.
One of the highlights as part of the 'Oriental Rugs and Carpets' sale is a Douglass Mughal 'Millefleurs' prayer rug estimates at 300,000-500,000 pounds. The rug, dating from the 18th century, was woven either in Lahore or Kashmir.
"It is part of an exceptionally small and rare group, of which only 10 other examples are known. This 'millefleurs' prayer rug, a reference to the delicate floral design worked across the entire field, is woven with wonderfully soft pashmina wool and remains in astonishingly good condition," Christie's said. Also from Mughal India is a very elegant Lahore gallery carpet, which relates to the famous Girdlers' carpet, commissioned for the Girdlers' livery company in the 1630s. The best of 19th century Indian Revivalist weaving is represented by a finely woven ivory ground Agra carpet with a classic large palmette design borrowed from Safavid and Mughal carpet designs, estimated at 30,000-50,000 pounds.
A heavily illustrated copy of the 'Khamsa of Nizami', copied in Kashmir or somewhere in North India in the early 17th century, is estimated at 200,000-300,000 pounds.
"The manuscript provides a rare window into a hybrid style of painting which was subject to the artistic influences of both the Mughal and the Safavid Courts. Another highlight of the sale is a folio from a royal album made for Shah Jahan in around 1650-58," said the auction house. "The small and remarkably detailed depictions of exotic bids and flowers that decorate the border illustrate the Emperor's much documented fascination with the natural world," the statement said. "It is possible that the European herbaria of the early 17th century that were bought into the Mughal court by Jesuit missionaries provided the inspiration," it added.
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