New Delhi, Sep 3 - Global auction house Christie's will unveil over 200 rare works of Asian and South Asian art that include ancient bronze and stone sculptures and Indian miniatures for a sale Sep 16 at the Rockefeller Gallery in New York.
The highlight of the lots on sale will be a collection of works from Paul E. Manheim's private collection and Buddhist thangkas from the collection of the ninth Dalai Lama in Tibet, said a press statement issued from New York Thursday.
Manheim (1906-1999), a rare early American collector of Asian art, was a partner in the Wall Street firm Lehman Brothers. For over two decades, the collector was one of the fundamental contributors to the Brooklyn Museum, helping it expand its Indian and South Asian collection.
A rare silver bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara - the Buddhist deity - from the Kashmir School in western Tibet dated 10th/11th century, sourced from the Manheim collection, is expected to fetch $250,000 at the sale. The deity, clad in a dhoti, is shown holding a lotus stem of an eight petal lotus.
The Manheim collection also includes an important black granite of the Nandi bull from south India, dating back to the Chola period in the 13th century. It is estimated to fetch $150,000.