Christie's announces art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds including Oriental Rugs and Carpets exhibition

Christie's announced the Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds including Oriental Rugs and Carpets, a live auction at Christie's King Street, London, on April 27. The sale features striking examples of manuscripts, paintings, ceramics, metalwork, and carpets.

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The auction includes an impressive array of Indian manuscripts and paintings along with an important group of jewelled courtly objects from a private collection. Leading the Indian works on paper is a Mughal painting of A Royal Cavalcade of Hunters and Chenchu couple stalking deer by night attributed to Fath Chand, Mughal India, late 17th century (estimate £150,000-200,000), (illustrated page 6, top left).

The painting belongs to a group which depicts the juxtaposition of the tribal and royal hunt. The nocturnal landscape in which the scene takes place is one that gained popularity in the Mughal court, probably due to the fascination with European chiaroscuro effects. (Illustrated page 4, top right), An Album of Company School Paintings of Mughal Monuments North India, 19th century. Watercolour on paper, the album comprising 40 paintings depicting monuments of Delhi, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri. (Estimate £20,000-30,000).

From Punjab, two magnificent suits of armour showcase the outerwear of the Sikh warriors of the period. They are fine examples of the renowned Lahore workshop and were produced at a time when the city served as the capital of the Sikh Empire under Ranjit Singh, 'The Lion of the Punjab' (1801-39). (Illustrated left), A Suit of Gold-Overlaid (Koftgari) plate and mail armour Lahore, Punjab, circa 1800-1850. Comprising helmet (kula khud), four plates (char aina), two armguards (bazuband), mail shirt and red cotton and silk robe. (Estimate £50,000-70,000). (Illustrated right), A rare 'Ganga-Jamuna' suit of mail armour Lahore, Punjab, first half of the 19th century. Comprising a helmet (kula khud), mail shirt (zereh), mail chausses (pyjama zereh), sword belt and pair of shoes. (Estimate £40,000-60,000).

The sale also boasts an impressive array of Persian manuscripts and paintings from a number of single-owner private collections. One of two masterpieces leading the sale is a Timurid painting, Baysunghur in the Guise of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Timurid Herat, first half 15th century. (Estimate £150,000-200,000), (illustrated on page 1). The painting captures the regal grandeur of a royal court scene and is one of the earliest depictions of what later became a popular subject in Persian painting.

Carpets and luxury textiles have been symbols of power, status and great wealth for millennia, however, due to their use and relative fragility they have not survived in great numbers. As a result, the importance of classical paintings for our knowledge of early carpets cannot be overstated, as they provide context for these weavings and allow us a glimpse of how they were traded, used and valued by their wealthy owners.

The great European painters of the 15th - 17th centuries depicted these prized objects in royal, noble or religious settings. Seen beneath the feet of the Madonna and Child in 15th-century frescos, or upon tables, beds and over balconies in portraiture settings depicting Royal or noble Europeans in the 16th and 17th centuries. Coined after these great early Renaissance masters, the sale includes examples of a 'Lotto', 'Ghirlandaio', 'Small-pattern Holbein', and 'Holbein variant' rugs.

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Other carpets of note in the sale are two 18th-century rugs woven in the Deccan in India. Due to strong trading ties with the Dutch East India Company, these rugs were traded with Japan where they were highly prized, and invariably only used in the annual celebration of the traditional Kyoto Festival where they were honoured by being used to decorate the festival floats (which explains their excellent condition).

The Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds including Oriental Rugs and Carpets view and exhibition opens to the public from April 22 - 26 at Christie's, King Street, London.