The auction is likely to see celebrities from Mumbai’s glamour world and top international collectors flock to the Umaid Bhavan Palace, Dadha said.
The piece de resistance of the sale is a recently discovered watercolour by England’s most iconic water colour artist J.M.W Turner, known for his classical European landscapes. The art work on sale is from a rare documentary series of 18th century India on the siege of Seringapatnam during the reign of Tipu Sultan.
“The art work has been authenticated for provenance by Turner experts Andrew Wilton and Ian Warrell in the UK,” the auction house owner said. Painted in the impressionistic style that characterised Turner’s art practise, the work shows the Cullaly Deedy water gates in the outer ramparts of Seringapatnam where Tipu Sultan sought refuge during the siege.
On sale is a rare eight-panel “verre eglomise (reverse gilded glass to mirror finish) metal screen by French avant garde artist and designer Etienne Drian celebrating the arrival of the first black jazz band in Paris. The panel, depicting five black musicians playing in a concert, is said to have been inspired by a live band that initiated Parisians to the musical genre. It is estimated at $1.1 million.
Other collectibles of rare provenance include decorative art deco and baroque accessories by designers Reenee Lalique, Lorenzo and Gilbert along with miniatures from the Rajasthan, Bundh and asoli, Kangra and Deogarh schools of royal art. An embellished collection of ceremonial daggers from the royal arsenals dating to the 18th century stands out for its intricate craftsmanship and antique value.
The Indian art section includes a collection of paintings by iconic modernists like Bamapada Banerjee, M.F. Husain, Ram Kumar and Jogen Chowdhury.
Explaining the reason for choosing Umaid Bhavan Palace as the venue, Dadha said: “Auctions in India are moving away from gallery spaces to luxury venues to fit into the lifestyle segments of the upend buyers who make up the bulk of the collectors of rare art and antiquities in the country.”
It was life imitating reality television. When a woman recently arrived at a valuation day offered by international auctioneers and valuers Bonhams in Melbourne, she clutched a dish her parents had brought to Australia from China.
It was a family heirloom, but the number of fakes made in China mean that's no guarantee of value, says John Chong, Bonhams' Hong Kong-based Chinese paintings and ceramics specialist.
"Sometimes it might not be of historical value, but it is quite important to them in terms of feelings so it is important that we take care of their feelings," Chong says. "We tell them it would not be suitable for auction, and they understand."
This time the client was in for a shock. "She did not know what she had," says Jennifer Gibson, head of furniture and decorative arts for Bonhams, Australia. "She occasionally put things in the bowl and definitely used it, God forbid."
That dish, an imperial yellow, will now be featured in Bonhams' May sale in Hong Kong, where it is expected to fetch more than HK$60,000. Also consigned for sale will be a white glazed bowl, whose owner did know it was valuable and wanted to know what price it might fetch, along with several paintings and scrolls.
For Chong and Hong Kong colleague Vincent Wu, finding such treasures is one of the joys of valuation days. Bonhams' Hong Kong specialists have visited Australia twice yearly for two years. This year, with the recent opening of the London-based auction firm's Melbourne office, the pair spent two days there and two in Sydney.
There have been bigger surprises. A traditional Chinese painting by Wang Shimin (1592-1680) titled Stream, Mountain, Rain, Feeling (Landscape in the Manner of Huang Gongwang), sourced from Down Under in 2011, sold for HK$11.9 million, 10 times its estimate.
Chong and Gibson agree that with Australia's Chinese population growing, more buyers and collectors are based there, and there is a greater chance of finding choice items.
"There are a lot of Chinese migrants ... Naturally, their families brought quite a lot of their family collections with them when they emigrated to Australia," says Chong. "The younger generations probably inherited these items from their parents or grandparents and might not enjoy them as much and think maybe it's a good time to sell, so they come forward."
But half of the people who came to the office in Melbourne were Westerners, Gibson says. Some had family members who had travelled the world, buying from auctions. Others were downsizing and some from Britain had inherited from a family member with a military background.
Malaysian-born Chong, who studied in Britain, says he entered the field because of his passion for it: "For an Asian to pursue the arts is very different. A lot of parents want their children to be doctors or architects."
He says Chinese art and its valuation are "very delicate and very deep" topics. "You require a specialisation in the field, and we need to identify the fakes. In China a lot of people are making fakes that are very convincing, so we are providing this service to the public. We want to educate people and make sure they don't make rash decisions, because there are a lot of new buyers."
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