On Tuesday, a seed-pearl necklace previously owned by Maharani Jindan Kaur, the youngest wife of first Sikh emperor Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was sold for £187,000 at an auction in London. The necklace was one of the items listed to be auctioned from the Lahore Treasury as part of the ‘Bonhams Islamic and Indian Art Sale’ in London. Notably, Maharani Kaur discarded Sati on Maharaja Ranjit Singh's death. The necklace surpassed its estimated price of between £80,000 and £120,000.
The auction house, Bonhams, stated that the entire sale had a number of items belonging to the Raj era, making an overall total of £1,818,500. Among the Sikh treasures on sale was a gold-thread-embroidered, velvet-clad leather bow and arrow holder made for Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The quiver was made purely for ceremonial purposes and appears to have been rarely worn, resulting in its excellent condition.
Oliver White, Bonhams Head of Indian and Islamic Art, expressed his pride in the Sikh treasures, stating that the magnificent necklace from the fabled Lahore Treasury that once belonged to the formidable and courageous Jindan Kaur stood out in the highly successful sale. White also noted that the high price reflected fierce and competitive bidding in the room, on the phones, and over the internet.
Kaur, as the regent to her five-year-old son Duleep Singh, who was proclaimed Maharaja of Punjab in 1843, organised armed resistance to the British invasion but was captured and imprisoned. She later escaped to Kathmandu and was kept under house arrest by the King of Nepal before eventually moving to England, where she was reunited with her son Duleep Singh.
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