The Indian miniatures market essentially reflects a number of different trends: those of the imperial Mughal galleries which are basically narrative paintings of Persian or Sanskrit epics dating from the sixteenth century to the early eighteenth century or visual chronicles of historical events going up to the early nineteenth century.
Then there are illustrations of religious texts of various sorts. Apart from them, there are ritual diagrams with a symbolic content, that is, Koranic calligraphy, tantric yantras and buddhist mandalas.
The first category then devolves into the minor art schools beyond the imperial ateliers that include the Delhi and Agra regions where from the late 16th century to the early 19th, one gets not only religious texts, but also copies of renaissance and other European prints and lascivious subjects called for by European traders and later Rajasthan princes.
Then we have the art of the Malwa region, the various schools of Rajasthan, notably Jaipur, Bundi, Kota, Kishangarh, Deogarh and Udaipur and the pahari schools of Basholi, Kangra, Mandi, Jammu, Nurpur and Gashwal.Then, we have Kashmir and Gujarat miniatures, and those of Avadh and the Deccan.
Among the miniature schools, obviously, the work of the royal ateliers of the Mughals of Delhi and Agra stands head and shoulders over the others, both in terms of technical excellence and originality. However, important provincial centres emerged in the hill-states of Kangra, Basholi, Guler, and Mandi, in the plains states of Rajasthan like Jaipur, Bundi, Kotah, Kishangarh, Deogarh and Udaipur, in Avadh and in the Deccan.These schools are noted for different aspects of style that came to characterise their art and gave it an originality of its own. Still, the market puts the Mughal imperial ateliers on the top, with Kangra, Kishangarh and late 19th century Avadh following closely behind.
Apart from this mainstream of miniature art, one finds illustrations of texts, Koranic calligraphy, tantric ritual yantras, Buddhist mandalas and European copies that are far lower in price than the narrative art that constitutes the miniatures of the Mughal royal ateliers.
As I have pointed out more than once, tastes in art change very slowly indeed and are often slower in changing than the pace of events in life. So, one can ascertain their contours at almost any time. So I have chosen to direct our analysis to the sale of some 16 miniatures that came up for auction at Christie?s in New York on September 23, 2004 and 18 up for sale at Sotheby?s on September 24, also in New York.
The highest price paid at the Christie?s auction was for an early 19th century miniature featuring the Durbar of Akbar II (1806-1837) with Sir David Ochterony, the British Resident portrayed as a courtier. The miniature (lot 163) is painted on ivory and fetched a price of Rs 12.9 lakh ($28680), for a work that measures 46.4 cm X 36.8 cm in its worry frame, with the price per square cm. Working out to Rs 1,252.35.
Other works that went over the threshold of Rs 1,000 were a folio from a 16th century edition of the Bagwata Purana (lot 164) that sold at Rs 1,854.40 per sq cm. A 19th century Mandi miniature featuring Krishna and Radha in an embrace sold at Rs 1,033.91 per sq cm. The rest sold at prices well below these.
A similar 16th century Bhagawata Purana folio (lot 105) of the Delhi/Agra region sold at a price of Rs 2,556.95 per sq cm at Sotheby’s the next day. Other works that sold at prices above Rs 1,000 per sq cm was a Sirohi miniature of the late 17th century (lot 107), from a rag-mala series that sold at Rs 1,678.22 per sq.cm.
Then a late 18th century Guler miniature from the Ramayana series (lot 113) sold at Rs 1,468.22 per sq cm. Another 18th century Kangra miniature (lot 111) sold at Rs 1,128.50, while the highest price paid for an Indian miniature was a Kishangarh portrait (lot 116) of the mid-eighteenth century with its characteristic eyes of the courtesan ?Bani Thani,? which sold for Rs 14.58 lakh, working out to a price of Rs 1,620 per sq.cm.
What general conclusion can we draw from these figures then? First, the miniature art of the imperial ateliers and that of the Delhi-Agra region which was most deeply influenced by it, commands the highest prices. Mughal imperial art of the 16th and 17th centuries, especially of the royal ateliers, fetches the best prices among these.
Then, the art that was developed in close contact with it, like that of Kangra, Guler, Mandi, or Kishangarh, commands higher-prices than works of a purely ritual nature. So, with some measure of certainly one can say that among miniatures, those of the imperial ateliers and of the Delhi-Agra region of the 16th and 17th centuries command the heights, while 18th century works of the art of the hill states and those of some of the Rajasthan centres are a close second. Moreover, secular art seems to fare better than ritual art.
Finally, independent visual narratives score higher than illustrations or diagrams. With these simple rules of the thumb to go by, investors in Indian miniatures can make the best choices easily enough.