JEWELLERY, ANTIQUE & ART AUCTION Tuesday, 13 July 2021 - 10:00 AM start

Fourteen clay figures of musicians and other characters

Estimate: $1,000 - $1,500

Lot Details

from Krishnagar, Bengal, late 19thC, eight musicians on rectangular bases and six smaller characters on circular bases, clothed and accessorised, tallest 240mm. Faults. Highly naturalistic sculptures of this type were made at Krishnagar and other villages near Calcutta, and later at Lucknow and Poona. Like Company School paintings that prefigure photography these figures made as souvenirs for Westerners as early as the 1820s. Similar figures in varying sizes have sold internationally at auction including Bonhams and Christies Islamic and Indian Art auctions. The National Gallery of Victoria, Australia has a collection of 82 figures purchased in 1867.