Painting of Tipu Sultan’s battle victory over British fetches over Rs 6.28 Cr

The work was auctioned by Sotheby’s under ‘Arts of the Islamic World & India including Fine Rugs and Carpets

‘The Battle of Pollilur’

The historic 19th century Indian painting, ‘The Battle of Pollilur’, was sold for 630,000 British pound., which is  over Rs 6.28 crore, at Sotheby’s, the famous auction house. Further details are awaited. The painting captures the momentous victory of Haider Ali, the sultan of the kingdom of Mysore, and his son, Tipu, defeating Company forces in the famed Battle of Pollilur. This work was apparently commissioned by Tipu Sultan himself, the last ruler of Mysore, on the Battle of Pollilur which took place in September 1780.
The 32ft long gouache on paper with black rules, done on 10 sheets of paper, shows Tipu atop an elephant while overseeing his troops. On one side it shows British soldiers struggling against the Mysore army. On the other end, the cavalry is attacking the Company forces on both sides.
The Battle of Pollilur is undoubtedly one of the great masterpieces of the period: a panorama of one of the crucial turning points of Indian history, realised with extraordinary vivacity and energy that has few rivals in the art of the period, according to historian William Dalrymple, who wrote the catalogue note for this auction.
“The painting extends over ten large sheets of paper, nearly thirty-two feet (978.5cm) long, and focuses in on the moment when the Company’s ammunition tumbril explodes, breaking the British square, while Tipu’s cavalry advances from left and right, “like waves of an angry sea,” according to the contemporary Mughal historian Ghulam Husain Khan,” says the note. 
This painting is arguably the greatest Indian picture of the defeat of colonialism that survives, according to him. Scenes from the battle were first commissioned by Tipu himself in 1784, he says. They were painted on the walls and frescoes of his palace - Daria Daulat Bagh - in Srirangapatnam, then the capital of Mysore. 
The painting depicts in detail what happened on the morning of September 7, 1780, when Tipu ambushed Company forces led by Colonel William Bailie near a village named Pollilur not far from Madras (now Chennai), which was a major British trading outpost at the time. By the time Haider Ali arrived with reinforcements, the “work had been pretty much done”, according to Dalrymple, who described this as “one of the great masterpieces of the period”. 

‘The Battle of Pollilur’, details

“The painting extends over ten large sheets of paper, nearly thirty-two feet (978.5 cm) long, and focuses in on the moment when the Company’s ammunition tumbril explodes, breaking the British square, while Tipu’s cavalry advances from left and right, “like waves of an angry sea”, according to the contemporary Mughal historian Ghulam Husain Khan. The pink-cheeked and rather effeminate-looking Company troops wait fearfully for the impact of the Mysore charge, as the gallant and thickly mustachioed Mysore lancers close in for the kill,” says the note.

Some great milestones in art auction
There are many Indian art works that created auction records in the recent past. ‘Tapovan’, a seminal work by SH Raza, painted in 1972, was sold for more than $4.5 million at a Christie’s auction in New York in March 2018.
In November 2021, over eight art works were sold for close to Rs 30 crore at the auction organised by Pundole, a famous art gallery in Mumbai. These include Francis Newton Souza’s ‘Couple’, done in 1964, which fetched Rs 7 crore and Akbar Padamsee’s painting from a private collection, which fetched Rs 4 crore, thus exceeding the pre-sale estimate.
Later, in February 2022, in another auction consisting of modern Indian art from a prominent Japanese collection, by Japanese art collector Masanori Fukuoka, the revenue touched a total sale figure of $20.68 million for 57 works. Again, run by Pundole, this revenue was a record. Fukuoka runs a museum, The Glenbarra Art Museum, which houses one of the most significant collections of Indian art. During this auction, one work, by the renowned Modernist V.S. Gaitonde, fetched a whopping Rs 42 crore ($5.6 million). 

V.S. Gaitonde's painting

In this auction, works by renowned artists including Tyeb Mehta, Jagdish Swaminathan, and Somnath Hore also set new records. While Tyeb Mehta’s acrylic painting, ‘Mahishasura’, did in 1995, fetched Rs 32 crore ($4.2 million), J Swaminathan’s oil painting from 1988 was sold for Rs 22 crore ($2.9 million). Hore’s bronze sculpture fetched Rs 1.6 crore ($212000) in this auction.

‘The Basket of Wild Strawberries’, by Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin

There are some interesting auction results abroad also. Recently a Strawberry painting by 18th-century French artist Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin was sold for $26.8 million. This painting, titled ‘The Basket of Wild Strawberries’, soared much above its estimated price of $16.5 million.
Though COVID-19 had adversely affected the art market globally, such record-breaking sales are indication that the market is resurgent now and definitely it is great news for the art practitioners.