Rs 119.5 crore for a Mughal painting by Basawan

A Family of Cheetahs in a rocky landscape, attributed to Basawan, Mughal India, circa 1575-80, sold for Rs 119.5 crore at the Christie’s auction, ‘Exceptional Paintings from the Personal Collection of Prince & Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan’ in London on October 28, 2025. Courtesy: Christie’s

The price bests news-grabbing record of Rs 118.6 crore for an M. F. Husain painting earlier in March

At a Christie’s auction in London on October 28, an earth-shattering record was set for an Indian painting. A Family of Cheetahs, a Mughal miniature attributed to Basawan, a favourite of emperor Akbar, sold for GBP 10,245,000 or approx. Rs 119.5 crore, becoming the most expensive Indian work of art ever sold. It bests the record of Rs 118.6 crore, achieved by Untitled (Gram Yatra) by M. F. Husain earlier this year in March, at another Christie’s auction in New York.

Maharao Umed Singh (r.1771-1819) and Zalim Singh hunting tigers, by Shaykh Taju, Kotah, Rajasthan, dated Samvat 38 / 1781 AD, sold for Rs 59.04 crore at a Christie’s auction in London on October 28, 2025. Courtesy: Christie’s

The painting measures 29.8 x 18.6 cm., and is made with opaque pigments heightened with gold on cloth, laid down on gold-flecked blue borders, and salmon pink margins flecked with gold. It was the top lot at the auction titled, ‘Exceptional Paintings from the Personal Collection of Prince & Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan’

As per a note on the lot by Christie’s, ‘It is a highly important work in the history of early Mughal art, representing one of the earliest natural history studies. It has been exhibited and published on numerous occasions and has been esteemed by art historians for several decades.’

Abul Fazl, the author of Akbarnama and a confidant of the Mughal emperor Akbar, who ruled from 1556-1605, noted that the latter had a particular fondness for cheetahs, verging on the superstitious.

The painting was estimated at GBP 700,000 – GBP 1,000,000 (approx. Rs 8.18 crore – Rs 11.6 crore) and went way beyond the asking price, becoming not just the most prized work of classical Indian art but also any work hailing from India.

Another painting from the Mughal period, but from the Kotah / Rajasthan school, signed by the master artist Shaykh Taju and dated 1781, sold for GBP 5,052,000 or approx. Rs 59.04 crore, becoming the second most expensive work of art sold at this particular auction. This painting features Maharao Umed Singh (r. 1771-1819) and Zalim Singh hunting tigers, and measures 51.6 x 80 cm. According to Christie’s, ‘This large-format and dramatically rendered tiger hunt is a tour de force of late 18th century Kotah painting, and an exceptional work by the accomplished court painter Shaykh Taju, probably one of only two dated finished paintings by this master artist and one of the greatest depictions of hunting in all Indian art. It exemplifies the Kotah school’s distinctive visual vocabulary: panoramic landscapes, dynamic figural movement, and the emotional tension of the hunt. The intensity of form and colour is searingly powerful.’

This painting was estimated at GBP 200,000 – GBP 300,000 (approx. Rs 2.33 crore – Rs 3.5 crore), and like the previous one, also went for way beyond the estimate.

With the prices thus achieved, these two paintings find place in the most expensive works of Indian art ever sold, classical or modern.