MAORI, NEW ZEALAND, NINETEENTH CENTURY
The head resting on the right shoulder, the right hand on the chest, the left on the thigh, with paua shell inlaid eyes.
Height 12.4 cm.
PROVENANCE
Private collection, New Hampshire: Bonhams, San Francisco, 5 May 2015, lot 115
Private collection, New York, 2015-25
The tiki were highly prized personal objects, worn as pendants, and passed down from generation to generation.
Folio from a Shahnama
Bijapur, circa 1610
Ink, opaque watercolour and gold on gold-sprinkled paper, verso with two captions in red on gold ground; and a further detached folio, unillustrated, each with four columns of nasta’liq divided by gold rules; re-margined
Painting: 5 1/5 by 2 ¾ in. (13.2 by 7 cm)
Folio: 8 by 4 ¾ in. (20.3 by 12.1 cm)
Provenance
Spink & Son, London, 1970s
D.B. Robertson, London, 1970s-90s
Private collection, London, by descent until 2018
The theme of this painting is ‘Kai Kavus ascends to the sky’, which is taken from the story of a king who while hunting was approached by a devil (div), disguised as a handsome youth, who declared that such was his might that he should reign from the heavens. Kai Kavus got his servants to build him a golden throne, in which he ascended to the skies, but, despite the meat bait seen above, disaster struck when the birds tired and the throne crashed to the ground.
A BIJAPUR SHAHNAMA
Approximately two dozen folios are known from this apparently unique manuscript, which depicts traditional Shahnama themes in a distinctively Bijapur style.
Others from this manuscript are in the San Diego Museum of Art, Williams College Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Victoria & Albert Museum, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco and Cleveland Museum of Art. In addition, four folios from this manuscript are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Two further folios were sold at Christie’s, New York, 19 March 2015, lot 227.
The Sringar of Srinathji on the occasion of the festival of Krishna or Radha’s birthday
Kota, circa 1835
Opaque pigments with gold on paper, red and yellow border with white rules
Painting: 7 1/8 by 4 ½ in. (18.2 by 11.4 cm)
Folio: 8 ¼ by 5 ½ in. (21.1 by 14.1 cm)
Provenance
Heil Collection, Berlin, pre-1991-2016
Srinathji is elaborately dressed for the sringar that was prescribed by Vitthalnathji for the festival of his own birthday, which takes place in the winter and hence Srinathji additionally wears trousers and boots. Such costume is also worn on two other occasions during the liturgical year, for Krishna’s birthday and for Radha’s towards the end of the rainy season when boots are not needed. Our painting then is of Srinathji dressed for Krishna’s or Radha’s birthday.
Eastern Persia, circa 1575
Opaque pigments with gold on paper, with gold-sprinkled inner margin ruled in gold and black, laid down in a pale green album page with gilt foliage, backed on card
6 1/5 by 3 ½ in., 15.5 by 8.8 cm. painting
12 1/3 by 7 4/5 in., 31.3 by 19.9 cm. folio
In a specific genre of painting in Iran that started under the Safavids in the sixteenth century and continued into the seventeenth, there was a vogue for depicting wistful love-struck youths. This is a rare example of one dating from 1575 and was formerly in the Sevadjian collection, Paris, where it was sold at Hotel Drouot in 1960. The style of this painting harks back to the mid-sixteenth century, for instance in ‘Self-portrait of Mir Sayyid ‘Ali, circa 1540, in the Sackler Gallery, Washington, see Seyller, p.305, no.269.
The painting is thought to come from an album (muraqqa) from which three paintings are now in the Louvre, Paris.
Leaf of calligraphy from Jami’s “Yusuf and Zuleika”
By Mohammed ibn Ishan el-Shihabi
Qasvin, Persia
Manuscript dated A.H. 964 / 1557-8 A.D.
Ink and pigments with gold on paper
5 5/8 by 2 5/8 in., 14.2 by 6.7 cm. calligraphy
10 by 5 7/8 in., 25.5 by 15 cm. folio
Safavid Persia, first half of the seventeenth century
Opaque pigments with gold on paper, laid down in a (reduced) gilt-splashed album page, pasted down on card
3 3/4 by 7 ¼ in., 9.5 by 18.5cm. painting
5 1/4 by 8 5/8 in., 13.5 by 22cm. folio
Krishna arriving to visit Radha in a palace courtyard
Bikaner, Rajasthan, early eighteenth century
Opaque pigments with gold on paper, laid down in an album page
7 ¼ by 3 3/8 in., 18.4 by 8.5 cm. painting
15 1/8 by 11 3/8 in., 39.6 by 29 cm. folio
Sawar, Rajasthan, early eighteenth century
Brush drawing in black ink on a yellow ground, heightened in orange, white and green, wasli laid down on paper
13 1/3 by 17 in., 34 by 43.3 cm. painting
13 4/5 by 17 1/5 in., 35.1 by 43.5 cm. folio
In this large and extraordinarily energetic drawing, a bull elephant scrolls his trunk to snap a leafy bough from the pipal tree to which he is tethered. By the powerful use of contours, parallel lines, concentric semi-circles and darkened joints, the artist conveys a sense of the elephant’s volume and, with his raised left foot, flapping ears and swishing tail, the nervous energy of the tethered animal.
Exhibited and Published
Falk, T., ed., Elephants of fame and other animals in Indian Painting, Indar Pasricha Fine Arts, London, 1987-88, illustrated on cover and pp.7 & 11
Hodgkin, H. and McInerney, T., Indian Drawing: An exhibition chosen by Howard Hodgkin, Hayward Gallery, London, 1983, no.24
Male rose-coloured starling (Sturnus Roseus) perched on the branch of a fig tree (Ficus Carica)
Lucknow or Calcutta, circa 1775-85
Pencil, pen with watercolour and bodycolour and gum arabic on paper, the foreground with Persian and English inscriptions in ink, on laid English paper, watermark unclear
18 by 11 in., 45.7 by 27.9 cm.
Jaipur, Rajasthan, circa 1780-1800
Opaque pigments on paper with gold
9 by 13 2/3 in., 23 by 34.7 cm. painting
11 5/6 by 15 in., 30.2 by 38.2 cm. folio
Folio from the Balakanda of a Ramayana (Ramacharitmanas) series
Attributed to Purkhu of Kangra
Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, circa 1800-1815
Opaque pigments with gold on paper, the blue margin with gilt foliate motifs, pink sprinkled border ruled in red, black and gold
9 ¼ by 13 ¾ in., 23.5 by 35 cm. painting
11 by 15 2/5 in., 28 by 39.2 cm. folio
Artefacts from Melanesia & Polynesia December 1 – 5, 2025
View our fine collection of artefacts from Melanesia and Polynesia in our online catalogue today!
RECENT EXHIBITION
Indian Paintings and Ottoman Textiles
October 27 – 31, 2025
As part of Islamic Week we have opened our gallery with a fine selection of Indian miniature painting and Ottoman textiles. We are open from Monday, October 27 until Friday, the 31st, 10am to 6pm.
Highlights include two folios from an early 17th century Bijapur Shahnama – other folios of which are in some of the world’s leading museum collections; and this fine 18th century textile panel with the distinctive patterns attributed to the Island of Patmos.
We are pleased to present our collection of fine works from the Indian subcontinent, the Himalayas and South-East Asia, covering pieces from the Buddhist and Hindu dynasties to the Mughals, with a special emphasis on Indian and Islamic miniature painting and manuscripts.
To view these pieces and more in our online catalogs, click here.
About the Gallery
We are a London and New York based firm of independent art dealers, founded in 1998.
The principals are Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch, former directors of the Antiquities and Islamic and Indian Art departments at Sotheby’s, London. Our professional expertise encompasses Near Eastern, Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Islamic art. We also specialize in the art of the Indian subcontinent, the Himalayas and South-East Asia, covering works from the Buddhist and Hindu dynasties to the Mughals, with a special emphasis on Indian and Islamic miniature painting and manuscripts.
Working with collectors, museums and galleries around the world, we act as agents for both vendors and purchasers, and advise on the best method of selling works of art, whether by private sale or at auction. Our many years’ experience of the acquisition process, and longstanding relationships with curators and collectors, helps us to ensure every transaction runs efficiently.
