Sikh Heritage Items For Sale At Bonhams

[dalsingh101]

I'm not sure if this has been posted before but I stumbled across a bunch of Sikh related items up for sale at Bonhams. I get the feeling that Sikh related items that have been appearing on the British market recently are just the tip of the iceberg of what really is languishing here in various private collections. I think the unexpectedly high price that bust of Daleep Singh sold for has prompted some others to consider selling what they possess. Just hope it ends up somewhere worthy.

http://www.sikhnn.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=688&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?screen=MySearchResults&saction=search&sFreeText=sikh

[SURYADEV]

I think this is a good thing. These items are not 'languishing in various private collections'. they have been beautifully preserved by the current owners, usually in the same family for generations. I would rather that way than have some sikh organisation like SGPC take control of it and then have it destryed in some museum fire or just rot away hidden in some vault.

It is the owners perogitive if they want to sell it and a whatever price and to whom. It is almost guaranteed that the buyer will look after it as an investment if not for their owwn family legacy. If SIkhs, as individuals or organisations, really want these items they should cough up the market price.

[dalsingh101]

I get what you are saying. As someone interested in history I just feel a bit deprived of stuff I would find really fascinating. I hope more and more stuff gets released so we can all enjoy and learn from it.

[GSMANN]

Necklace Owned by Wife of Last Sikh Ruler for Sale at Bonhams

An important 19TH Century emerald and seed-pearl Necklace from the Lahore Treasury, reputedly worn by Maharani Jindan Kaur wife of Ranjit Singh, the Lion of the Punjab (1780–1839), is for sale in Bonhams next Indian and Islamic sale on 8th October 2009 in New Bond Street.

http://www.sikhnugget.com/2009/10/necklace-owned-by-wife-of-last-sikh.html

[Mithar]

Jattboot made a valid point. If it wasn’t for the British looting Sikh heritage then it is very likely that we ourselves would have destroyed it out of negligence or ignorance or a combination of both.

[dalsingh101]

Jattboot made a valid point. If it wasn’t for the British looting Sikh heritage then it is very likely that we ourselves would have destroyed it out of negligence or ignorance or a combination of both.

I get you but it is supremely ironic that looted items are being sold at a premium. I think we can all share them through modern technology i.e. high quality images.

Panjabi people generally being ignorant and negligent about heritage is such a shame. But I guess the quom being largely uneducated (or poorly educated!) and from simple rural backgrounds doesn't help. Such people live lives that don't really appreciate such things as much as they might, being stuck in "the grind" so to speak.

[HSD1]

Are people genuinely saying its fine that they are selling these things? Would we really have been stupid enough to destroy our own 'artefacts' if we had beaten the british? Even if we did, why is there such attachment to such objects? Come on guys, the british stole a ton of stuff from us and to say that they kept good care of them is a joke. Plenty of items have disappeared or been destroyed by the british. After partition/84, many of them probably only kept them in the hope of using them as leverage or selling them at a high price to the sikh nation. As that didnt happen and with times getting tough in the uk, the owners probably think that some hindustani muppet would be dumb enough to cough up the price being asked. Which makes sense as they now hold our reins rather than the goreh. Oh well. Reminds me of the 300 anniversary celebrations in 1999, where there was some coconut on tv with one of the original compilations of SGGS Ji in a posh british library somewhere. The coconut had the nerve to say 'Isnt it great how our gurus sent this to england and a few centuries later, here we are too!'. Supposedly he was a historian as well, who didnt even know the british had stolen it. No wonder we get so excited over a few random items that surface every now and again.

[dalsingh101]

Are people genuinely saying its fine that they are selling these things? Would we really have been stupid enough to destroy our own 'artefacts' if we had beaten the british? Even if we did, why is there such attachment to such objects?

I'm not happy about it. But I've seen how poorly things are kept back home. I think there should be some legal imperitive for Britain to return objects of heritage back to Sikhs, but Sikhs too need to e able to look after the stuff back home. Personally I'm not attached to such items but value them in terms of what we can learn from them. I only really know just how affluent the Sikh kingdom was through such items, and paintings and various texts. Had I not encountred them I don't think I would have believed that the Sikhs were doing so well (though that is not the 'be all, end all' of our heritage).

Come on guys, the british stole a ton of stuff from us and to say that they kept good care of them is a joke. Plenty of items have disappeared or been destroyed by the british. After partition/84, many of them probably only kept them in the hope of using them as leverage or selling them at a high price to the sikh nation.

We also have to keep a keen eye for when items looted in 1984 might start turning up on the market. Judging by the European experience though it may be that they start appearing a few generations from now.

As that didnt happen and with times getting tough in the uk, the owners probably think that some hindustani muppet would be dumb enough to cough up the price being asked. Which makes sense as they now hold our reins rather than the goreh. Oh well. Reminds me of the 300 anniversary celebrations in 1999, where there was some coconut on tv with one of the original compilations of SGGS Ji in a posh british library somewhere. The coconut had the nerve to say 'Isnt it great how our gurus sent this to england and a few centuries later, here we are too!' Supposedly he was a historian as well, who didnt even know the british had stolen it.

LOL!! I think that was Jeevan Deol.

No wonder we get so excited over a few random items that surface every now and again.

Like I said, some of this is evidence for our past. Some things help shed new light on this.

[HSD1]

Right, but i think we are going in completely the wrong direction about this. What should happen is that the gurudwaras in britain should use the sangat's money to purchase these things and an independant sikh body should be responsible for storing them. Meanwhile, somewhere we should set up some kind of International Sikh Museum. I think building one in Lahore or Amritsar would be too dangerous, especially as I dont trust the sulleh or hindus. Somewhere like New York or London would be better. These goods can then be stored there. If a Gurudwara is set up in or near the musuem, it can help pay for the up keep. A research institute and college/university could be set up in time too. At the same time we really badly need a sikh pressure group to twist the hand of govt and royalty. If they were on side it would be easier to squeeze the people holding onto these items. When they decide to sell them, we will be able to clean up. Of course this is a bit far fetched as we are too disorganized to do much as a community.

As for the stuff stolen in 84, i dont think they will give it up. Most of what the british took was general looting, where as the hindustani govt are deliberately keeping certain things in order to alter them or just hinder our understanding of our history rather than for leverage or monetary gain.

Edited October 6, 2009 by HSD

[GSMANN]

Rani Jindan’s necklace sells for £55k.

The entire Sikh diaspora was shocked when it came to be known that an array of Sikh treasures, especially the necklace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s wife Maharani Jindan Kaur, a rare first-edition book, “The Court and Camp of Runjeet Singh”,(Sold for £2,040) and an 18th century engraving of a “Nihang Singh” went under the hammer at London-based Bonhams this evening.

Visit www.sikhnugget.com for more information

Edited October 9, 2009 by Punjab heritage