[BITList] One of the best private collections of Indian artefacts in Australia

[John Feltham]

One of the best private collections of Indian artefact
in Australia for sale

February 25, 2009

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/money/planning/artefacts-of-her-affection/2009/02/23/1235237554105.html

After a rewarding career as an antiques dealer, Joan Bowers
has decided to sell her private collection of Indian artefacts,
no doubt one of the best in Australia. The auction will take
place on Sunday at Bonhams & Goodman's Bay East rooms
at Waterloo.

The decision wasn't exactly easy because she has shared
most of her life with these wonderful objects. She hopes the
new owners gain as much pleasure from them as she has.

Her collection was sourced almost entirely from India,
predominantly from the Rajasthan region. How she found
the pieces is a saga in itself.

Among the treasures she retrieved in this period are some
of the rare items for sale on Sunday. There's a door from
the Gajner Summer Palace in Bikaner, a pair of octagonal
sandstone stools used for mounting elephants, ornamental
room dividers and elaborate hand-carved columns, all from
the 19th century, if not earlier.

A very significant piece is a plaque that marked the site of
a royal sati - the traditional Hindu custom in which a widow
was burnt to ashes on her dead husband's pyre. Bowers
was surprised to find this among a group of stones she
bought. The plaque has been a feature of her Sydney home
for nearly three decades.

Another of her favourite pieces is a dowry box featuring an
erotic painting on one side. The naked couple was modestly
covered by a blanket painted on during the Victorian era.

Also included are five, four-poster Calcutta beds from the mid
-19th century, plus an 18th century glass mosaic wedding
enclosure. [snip]


ooroo

Bad typists of the word, untie.