Rani Jindan Kaur (1817-63), the 17th wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Lion of Punjab, and the mother of his heir, Duleep Singh, hardly had a charmed life. Widowed when she was just 22, imprisoned, and then a refugee in Nepal till she chose to capitulate to the British and spend the remaining years of her life with her son in London, she lost most of her jewels when the British raided the Lahore treasury in 1849-50, a time when they allegedly took over the Kohinoor as well as the Timur ruby as gifts for Queen Victoria.
Part of the spoils of those raids included an emerald and seed pearl necklace that was worn by the rani, sold to the Ranjit Singh collection by London’s Frazer & Haws. The necklace, consisting of six polished emerald beads (one was later removed and converted into a pendant) mounted in gold and fringed with seed pearl tassels, has been consigned to auction at Bonhams. The auction, on October 8, will take place at New Bond Street, London.
The necklace has been estimated to sell at a value between £ 25,000 and £35,000.
At another Bonhams sale, this one in Dubai, on October 12, a watercolour by Pakistani artist Abdur Rahman Chugtai, will go under the hammer. The painting was presented to former West Germany President Walter Scheel by the artist’s son in 1976, in Bonn. It has been consigned to the auction by a French collector. Among painters from the subcontinent that will feature in the sale are works by Jamini Roy and F N Souza.