Private Collections, Provenance and Lots Without Reserve

Featuring over 500 lots from a number of private collections, Roseberys’ Antiquities, Islamic, and Indian Arts auction on April 28^th presents a particularly strong line-up of works on paper and precious folios, Egyptian and Greek works, Indian miniatures and Company School paintings. Its also includes a large group of early Islamic metalwork, glass works on paper to be sold without reserve sure to garner interest from collectors from across the globe. Works on paper and precious folios are well-represented and the manuscripts section is very strong, with Hebrew and Armenian texts as well as early Kufic folios, scientific texts, Shahnameh folios and Qur’ans included.                     

_{Lot 208: A complete Armenian book of Gospels, 16th century or earlier, Armenian manuscript on vellum}

The sale features a large number of early Islamic, Ottoman and Safavid manuscripts, and also some early Christian works including lot 208, an Armenian book of Gospels dating from the 16th century or earlier. The manuscript is on blind-tooled polished calf vellum over thin wooden boards, featuring Armenian binding and red and white striped cloth board liners. This book features three portraits of the Christian Evangelists. At the beginning of the fourth century, Armenia became the first nation to officially adopt Christianity, and the first text to be translated into Armenian was the Bible. Gospel Books came to be the most treasured and lavish of Armenian books, and they were often revered as sacred relics and carried into battle at the head of Armenian armies. Lot 208 comes to Roseberys with an estimate of £1,000-1,500.

_{Lot 215: Qur’an Leaf in Kufic Script, Near East or North Africa, 9th century}

Other Islamic works on paper are lot 215, a large Kufic Qur’an leaf dating to the 9^th-10^th century on vellum from the Near East or North Africa, (estimate £4,000-6,000) and lot 329, Juz 21 of a Chinese Qur’an dating to the 19th century. The Juz system to divide the Qur’an into equal length helped to facilitate the reading or recitation of the text in its entirety over the course of a month, and the start of a new Juz is often indicated by ornamental devices such as colour changes for the opening words or marginal inscriptions. Lot 329 has an estimate of £600-800.

_{Lot 429: An Italo-Islamic marble roundel (patera), 12th-13th century}

Roseberys is pleased to present a wonderful Italo-Islamic marble roundel dating to the 12th to 13th century featuring a bird of prey and rabbit, which was likely once set into the wall of a grand building, public edifice, or private residence of a wealthy Venetian. Lot 429 measures 29.9 cm diameter and has a £5,000 to £7,000 estimate. Its south Italian or Sicilian provenance is reinforced by an abundance of stylistically-related artworks of the period and near-identical birds of prey with rabbits have been found on the painted ceiling of the Capella Palestina, Palermo, attributed to Fatimid craftsmen from North Africa. Such motifs appear in luxury textiles of the period, which was a key method for the dissemination of early Islamic period designs.

_{Lot 276: His Majesty Mahommed Shah of Persia, Proof state of a mezzotint by J. E. Coombs}

Lot 276 is a proof state of a mezzotint by J.E. Coombs after a painting by J.H. Twigg. This depiction of His Majesty Mahommed Shah of Persia was published by Welch and Gwynne of London and printed by James Kahee and Co. Other states of this mezzotint are included in the Royal Collection Trust and British Museum. The work has a £600-800 estimate.

_{Lot 92: A folio from the Ardeshir album, Ladies bathing, Provincial Mughal, Lucknow, circa 1780}

A superb collection of Indian miniatures, from a private London family, is part of a larger collection sold at Roseberys. Led by a folio from the 18th century Ardeshir album, it features miniatures from the Kangra, Guler, Pahari, and Mughal schools of painting. Lot 92 is a folio from the Ardeshir Album, likely assembled during the reign of 18^th century Mughal ruler Muhammed Shah. The collector after whom the album is named - A.C. Ardeshir - a Parsi from Bombay, came from an eminent family of printing pioneers in the Indian ink industry, and also owned one of India’s finest tea estates, placing Ardeshir in a prime social position to pursue his passions. This magnificent collection of works on paper was put together in India in the 1920s and 1930s, dispersed at auction at Sotheby’s in the early 1970s with a number of included paintings showing signs of having been taken from other albums and remounted. This leaf, made in provincial Mughal, Lucknow around 1780, shows ladies bathing and features the very distinctive trellis border design seen on all  Ardeshir album folios. The folio carries an estimate of £6,000-8,000. A wonderful and rare Iberian limestone bust of a lady with large rotera hair coils (Lot 26 £2,000-4,000) also from the same collection leads the Antiquities section.

_{Lot 58: A bronze Chinese ewer for the Indian market, Qing Dynasty, late19th-early 20th century}

Two highlights from the upcoming sale are from a wonderful and diverse collection of Indian metalwork dating from the 16^th-19^th centuries acquired over many years by a discerning eye (Lots 57-70) including Lot 77 an Indian Deccani engraved bronze ewer from the 16th century (estimate £3000-4000) - and lot 69 a silver-inlaid Bidri basin for £1,200-1,500.

 _{Lot 201: Shanti Panchal (Indian, b. 1951) Padabhishek}

Lot 201, a contemporary highlight from the upcoming Antiques, Islamic, and Indian Arts sale, is a signed 2006 watercolour by the Indian artist Shanti Panchal (b. 1951) measuring 57 x 77cm. The artist was born in Mesar, Gujarat, and studied in both Bombay and London, having been awarded a British Council Scholarship. His experimental and adventurous watercolour works are influenced by his spiritual identity and the ‘Padhabishek’ series of which lot 201 is part is inspired by a spiritual event he attended in 2006 where he witnesses Jain monks be initiated into the highest monastic rank. Panchal has been an artist-in-residence at the Harris Museum in Preston and London’s British Museum, and another painting from this series is in the collection of the V&A. This is one of three works being offered in the April 28^th sale and the estimate for lot 201 is £1,000 to 1,500.

_{Lot: 196: Syed Haider Raza (1922-2016), Bindu, 1995 Acrylic on canvas, 120 x 120 cm}

In time for the 2023 retrospective at the Pompidou Centre, Paris, we are very pleased to be offering a 1995 acrylic Bindu work by eminent Indian Modernist artist S.H. Raza, which will appear in the forthcoming Vol III of the Catalogue Raisonne of the painter's work. The 120 x 120 cm canvas work will be included in the catalogue by Anne Macklin on behalf of The Raza Foundation, New Delhi. The retrospective at the Pompidou is the first for Raza’s work and opened on February 15th and closes on May 15th.  It traces his whole career, from his beginnings in 1940s Bombay founding the Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group, to his move to France, and the development of his recognisable abstract style which incorporates South Asian elements. The painting on offer at Roseberys falls into this latter category and is a prime example of the artist’s most well-known style. Lot 196 carries a £50,000-70,000 estimate.