AstaGuru's second Textile Auction features a melange of exclusive textiles, vintage collectibles

Mumbai, 20 January: AstaGuru, India’s premium online auction house, will host its second edition of Textile Auction on 28 & 29 January 2020, presenting a mélange of textiles to be offered to bid on their site.

Following the previous year’s exhaustive auctions covering a gamut of vintage pieces, the year 2020 begins with a textiles auction for AstaGuru.

The previous textile auction held in January 2019, comprised only the exquisite range of Pashminas, and was titled Pashmina - the Textile Legacy of Kashmir.

However, the second edition resonating with its holistic title of The Textiles includes rugs, shawls, sarees, the traditional Pichwais, artefacts and accessories along with Pashmina and ranges total of 100 lots. 

The auction covers every region particularly known for their unique patterns and weaves of textiles - be it Iran or erstwhile Persia, Benarasi fabric or Gujarat / Maharashtra-specific Pichwais or Kashmiri Pashmina or Jamavar or Herati design of Afghanistan or Shirwan pattern of the Caucasian region, among others.  

The highlight of a super-exclusive Pashmina Shawl segment; Durokha - Doranga (lot no 79), priced at INR 60,00,000.

This shawl is a masterpiece; work of which spanned over a decade and a half, with relentless efforts of eight craftsmen opposed to two to four craftsmen required for a regular shawl. 

The shawl has exact same motifs on both sides, however, the base grounds of the shawl on the reverse sides are different.

The sheer time required to make this one shawl justifies the exclusivity and price of it.

The other Pashminas include a Moon & Peacock Shawl (lot no 55) with Islim Design, The Kani Khatras Pashmina Shawl (lot no 9) with stripes formation makes it appealing, representing the bygone era of manmade shawls.

Kani Pashmina Jamawar 17 rows of paisley diagonal motifs (No 7) and the combination of Nilfur and Islim design makes Kani Jamawar antique shawl (lot no 69) look exquisite.

Apart from the Pashmina shawls, the carpet and rugs segment offers unique range showcasing an entire hunting scene made of fine Tabriz wool; distinctive wool from the capital city of East Azarbaijan Province in the northwest of Iran (lot no 20). 

The fine Qum wool carpet priced at INR 13, 50,000 have inclusions of silk as a primary fabric. An Ardabil Design wool carpet, heavily inspired by the juggernaut 16th Century carpet found in the mosque of Ardabil in four centuries later.

The carpet is signed by the maker, Makmal Baff and the original of this carpet is a part of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The segment also consists of runners from different regions of Persia.

In the accessory segment, there are few traditional lots like Pichwais of Lord Krishna as well as wall-hangings with motifs belonging to the Jain religion.

A lot of elements from India’s rich and extensive history such as Hookah base, belt, and throne can be witnessed.

Speaking about the textile auction, Siddhanth Shetty, Vice President - Strategy & Operations shared, “AstaGuru, though having garnered the title as champions the art (Modern & Contemporary) sector, as an organisation it also understands the extensive scope and market of rare and eclectic categories." 

"Therefore, over the past decade, the online auction house has widened its catalogue to rare timepieces, antique jewellery, vintage cars, and textiles," Siddhanth continued. 

"Considering the diversity of the Indian textile landscape, we have included rugs, shawls, sarees and also the traditional art form of Pichwai in our upcoming auction. We are glad to have seen the potential in this category and look forward to expanding further,” added Siddhanth.

The auction will take place online on the AstaGuru website. Select pieces are open for viewing until 29 January 2020 at the auction house’s gallery located in Kala Ghoda, Mumbai.