Christie’s London achieved £45.7 million for 'Exceptional Paintings from the Personal Collection of Prince & Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan', setting a world record for a Mughal masterpiece and redefining the market for Indian and Islamic art.
Colonel Polier’s Nautch, signed by Mihr Chand, Faizabad, India, probably 1774–75. Opaque pigments heightened with gold and silver on paper, laid down on decorated borders with an illuminated shamsa on the reverse. Painting 18.9 × 28.2 cm; folio 28.7 × 39.4 cm. This exquisite painting of Colonel Polier watching a nautch is among the most iconic images of late 18th-century Mughal India, celebrated as Mihr Chand’s finest and most important work. Associated with the distinguished Polier Albums, it remains one of the most significant folios commissioned during Colonel Polier’s years in India.
Christie’s London has announced a record-breaking result for Exceptional Paintings from the Personal Collection of Prince & Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan, which achieved a total of £45,760,485 / $60,952,966 / €52,212,713, six times the pre-sale estimate. The auction was 100% sold, with participation from bidders in 20 countries across four continents. Nearly one in five bidders were new to Christie’s, underscoring the global appeal of this remarkable collection.
A Family of Cheetahs in a Rocky Landscape, attributed to Basawan, Mughal India, circa 1575–80. Opaque pigments heightened with gold on cloth, laid down on gold-flecked blue borders with salmon pink margins flecked with gold, reverse plain, mounted. Painting 29.8 × 18.6 cm; folio 40.1 × 27.2 cm. This breathtaking study of a family of cheetahs is one of the most outstanding early Mughal paintings, exquisitely rendered with expressive naturalism and firmly attributed to the Akbar-period master Basawan. A landmark in early Mughal art, it represents one of the earliest natural history studies and has been celebrated by art historians and naturalists alike. Described as “superb” (Brand and Lowry, 1985) and “a quite remarkable study” (Goswamy and Fischer, 1987), Amina Okada praised its “spectacular baroque effects” and harmony (1991), while Divyabanusinh noted it as “the earliest known study of cheetahs in the wild in India” (1995, 2023).
Leading the sale was A Family of Cheetahs in a Rocky Landscape, attributed to Basawan, Mughal India, circa 1575–80. The work realised £10,245,000 / $13,646,340 / €11,689,545, setting a new world auction record for a Classical Indian or Islamic painting and far surpassing its estimate of £700,000–1,000,000.
Other highlights included Maharao Umed Singh and Zalim Singh Hunting Tigers, signed by Shaykh Taju of Kotah, Rajasthan, India, dated 1781 AD, which achieved £5,052,000 / $6,729,264 / €5,764,332, more than 25 times its estimate. A Prince Hawking, attributed to Muhammad Ali, Mughal India, circa 1610, sold for £3,954,000 / $5,266,728 / €4,511,514, while Dust Muhammad’s 16th-century portrait Shah Abu’l-Ma’ali of Kashgar reached £2,734,000 / $3,641,688 / €3,119,494.
Maharao Umed Singh (r.1771–1819) and Zalim Singh Hunting Tigers, signed by Shaykh Taju, Kotah, Rajasthan, India, dated Samvat 38 / 1781 AD. Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, in black borders with a broad red margin, reverse plain with nine-line Devanagari inscription, signed and dated, mounted, framed and glazed. Painting 51.6 × 80 cm; folio 54.8 × 82.8 cm. This large-format and dramatically rendered tiger hunt is a tour de force of late 18th-century Kotah painting, one of only two known dated works by the master artist Shaykh Taju, and among the greatest depictions of hunting in Indian art. It captures Maharao Umed Singh and his minister Zalim Singh during a royal shikar, rendered with searing colour and intense movement that embody the Kotah school’s dynamic visual vocabulary. The composition’s layered chaos and emotional charge reflect the hunt’s unpredictability and have drawn comparisons to European panoramas and the dreamscapes of Rousseau. Recent scholarship has confirmed the inscription identifying the figures, artist, and the exact date of 20 June 1781. Exhibited in India! Art and Culture 1300–1900 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this monumental painting exemplifies the Kotah school’s mastery of narrative, power, and ritual, transforming royal spectacle into a work of dramatic visual poetry and one of the defining masterpieces of Rajput painting.
Sara Plumbly, Christie’s Head of Islamic and Indian Art, remarked:
“The results of this auction illustrate the enduring appeal of works of art of this calibre with such distinguished provenance. Many of these paintings are regarded as icons within Indian and Persian art. The outstanding attendance at the public viewing and the enthusiasm in the saleroom are reflected in the exceptional prices achieved. This is a landmark moment for the market and a testament to the discerning eye of Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan.”
Held during London’s Asian Art Week, this sale formed the centrepiece of Christie’s autumn season devoted to Islamic and Indian art. For the art world, this historic result reaffirms the vitality and international demand for museum-quality works of Indian and Islamic heritage.
