Christies: The Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection of Indian Painting and Calligraphy, 24425, London - King Street

Auction Details

Auction Report
Auction Date
April 28, 2026 - April 28, 2026
Page Size: 78 items in 4 pages
Auction Lot Books
Lot Number Author Name Book Title Place Printed Year Published Estimate Actual Price
1 SPAIN, CIRCA 1250-1300 AD

An Illuminated Carpet-Page From A Maghribi Qur'An

Spain c. 1250-1300 USD 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD 31,750.00
2 PROBABLY ZIRID KAIROUAN, TUNISIA, 9TH CENTURY

A Kufic Qur'An Folio

Kairouan, Tunisia 9th century USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD 7,620.00
3 IRAN OR MESOPOTAMIA, 14TH CENTURY

A Folio From The 'Five Suras' Manuscript

Iran; Mesopotamia 14th century USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD 10,160.00
4 ALMOHAD MARRAKESH, 13TH CENTURY

A Pink Qur'An Folio

Marrakesh 13th century USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 9,525.00
5 ALMOHAD MARRAKESH, SECOND QUARTER 13TH CENTURY

A Pink Qur'An Folio

Marrakesh second quarter 13th century USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 9,525.00
6 ANATOLIA OR CENTRAL ASIA, EARLY 14TH CENTURY AND LATER

An Illuminated Qur'An Folio

Anatolia; Central Asia early 14th century USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 6,096.00
7 SPAIN OR NORTH AFRICA, MID-15TH CENTURY

Two Maghribi Folios From A Dala'Il Al-Khayrat

Spain; North Africa mid-15th century USD 600.00 - 800.00 USD 1,524.00
8 MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1620

An Illuminated Shamsa

Mughal India c. 1620 USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 3,302.00
9 MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1580-85

A Folio From The 'Chester Beatty Tutinama'

Mughal India c. 1580-85 USD 12,000.00 - 18,000.00 USD 33,020.00
10 MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1590

The Emperor Akbar Subdues A Cobra

Mughal India c. 1590 USD 40,000.00 - 60,000.00 USD 107,950.00
11 BY KANHAR, MUGHAL INDIA, 1595-1600

Qaracha Khan Is Brought Before Humayun

Mughal India 1595-1600 USD 30,000.00 - 50,000.00 USD 76,200.00
13 MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1610

An Archer Inspecting His Arrow

Mughal India c. 1610 USD 6,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD 20,320.00
14 MUGHAL INDIA, 1600

The Virgin Mary Standing In Prayer

Mughal India 1600 USD 30,000.00 - 50,000.00 USD 152,400.00
15 MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1600

The Angel Raphael Greeting Tobias

Mughal India c. 1600 USD 30,000.00 - 50,000.00 USD 254,000.00
16 ASCRIBED TO LA'L, MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1605

The Virgin And Child

Mughal India c. 1605 USD 40,000.00 - 60,000.00 USD 44,450.00
17 MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1610

A Woman On A Stone Bench

Mughal India c. 1610 USD 20,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD 139,700.00
18 THE CALLIGRAPHY SIGNED FAKHR AL-DIN, GOLCONDA, INDIA, CIRCA 1650

An Illuminated And Illustrated Album Page

Golconda, India c. 1650 USD 7,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD 8,890.00
19 PROVINCIAL MUGHAL, INDIA, CIRCA 1610

A Portrait Of Prince Parviz (D. 1626)

Provincial Mughal, India c. 1610 USD 6,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD 6,350.00
20 MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1590

Ascetics By A Fire

Mughal India c. 1590 USD 15,000.00 - 20,000.00 USD 25,400.00
21 THE PAINTING MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1610; THE MARGINS ATTRIBUTABLE TO MUHAMMAD BAQIR, ZAND ISFAHAN OR SHIRAZ, MID-18TH CENTURY

An Imagined Portrait Of The Poet Jami

Mughal India; Isfahan; Shiraz c. 1610; mid-18th century USD 12,000.00 - 18,000.00 USD 24,130.00
22 SIGNED MIR 'ALI AL-KATIB, SAFAVID HERAT OR SHAYBANID BUKHARA, CIRCA 1525

A Calligraphic Folio

Herat; Bukhara c. 1525 USD 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 USD 7,620.00
23 SIGNED MAHMUD [IBN ISHAQ] AL-SHAHABI, PROBABLY SHAYBANID BUKHARA, SECOND HALF 16TH CENTURY

An Illuminated Calligraphic Panel

Shaybanid Bukhara second half 16th century USD 1,500.00 - 2,000.00 USD 30,480.00
24 THE PAINTING MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1590; THE CALLIGRAPHY SIGNED MIR 'ALI, FIRST HALF 16TH CENTURY

Layla Visits Majnun In The Desert

Mughal India c. 1590; first half 16th century USD 60,000.00 - 80,000.00 USD 139,700.00
25 MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1600

A Seated Prince In A Pavilion

Mughal India c. 1600 USD 40,000.00 - 60,000.00 USD 101,600.00
26 MUGHAL INDIA, 17TH CENTURY

Maharana Amar Singh Of Mewar (D. 1620) Holding A Flower

Mughal India 17th century USD 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 USD 5,715.00
  • Sotheby’s
    Shelf Life: Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper from the Library of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone
    25 June – July 7
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Ludwig van Beethoven. Autograph sketches for the overture "Die Weihe des Hauses", op.124, [1822], UNPUBLISHED. £150,000 to £200,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, 1813, first edition, 3 volumes, contemporary half calf. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, 1855, first edition, first issue, original green cloth, the Doheny copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Binding—Sangorski & Sutcliffe—Omar Khayyam. Rubaiyat, London, 1872, third edition, in a magnificent jewelled Peacock binding. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: George Eliot. Middlemarch, Edinburgh and London, 1871, first edition in the original parts. £20,000 to £30,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: Hassall (Joan) A large collection of over 300 original woodblocks of engravings for various books, v.d., with Hassall's engraver's glass water-globe (Qty) - Est. £10,000-15,000
    Forum, July 9: Eragny Press.- [Bradley (Katherine Harris) & Edith Emma Cooper], "Michael Field." Whym Chow, Flame of Love, one of only 27 copies, inscribed by Bradley, the rarest book from the press, 1914. - Est. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, July 9: [Moore (Thomas Sturge)] [Wood Engravings], 71 wood-engravings printed by David Chambers from the original blocks, the only set on Japanese Hosho paper, from an edition of 5 sets, [1970]. - Est. £3,000-4,000
    Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: La Fontaine (Jean de) Contes et Nouvelles en vers, 2 vol., engraved plates after Eisen, fine early 19th century blue morocco, gilt, by Bradel l'ainé, Amsterdam [Paris], 1762. - Est. £2,000-3,000
    Forum, July 9: Erotica.- Prostitution.- Pretty Women of Paris (The); Their Names and Addresses, Qualities and Faults..., [Paris], privately printed at the Press of the Prefecture de Police, 1883. - Est. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, July 9: Vale Press.- Ricketts (Charles) & Lucien Pissarro. De la Typographie et de l'Harmonie de la Page Imprimée…, [one of 216 copies], bound in dark blue morocco tooled in gilt, by Sarah T.Prideaux, 1898. - Est. £1,000-1,500
    Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: Martin (John) Illustrations of the Bible, complete set of 20 mezzotints, good impressions, rarely found in early states, [c.1831-1835]. - Est. £1,000-1,500
    Forum, July 9: Golden Cockerel Press.- Four Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ (The), one of 500 copies, Mary Gill's copy, Waltham St. Lawrence, 1931 with a signed proof of engraving on japon numbered 10/10 (2) - Est. £5,000-7,000
    Forum, July 9: Boccaccio (Giovanni) The Decameron, 3 vol., vol.1 extra-illustrated by John Buckland Wright with c.150 erotic original drawings in pen & ink and pencil, 1886 [extra-illustrated c.1940]. - Est. £10,000-15,000
    Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: Cox (Morris) Collection of Gogmagog Press Books, 35 vol., rare complete collection of printed books issued by the press, limited editions, most signed by Cox, 1957-83. - Est. £10,000-15,000
    Forum, July 9: Wynkyn de Worde.- [Terentius Afer (Publius)] [Comedie...], [Paris, Josse Badius: sold in London by Wynkyn de Worde, & others], [15 July 1504]. - Est. £4,000-6,000
    Forum, July 9: Mosley (James) Ornamented Types. Twenty-Three Alphabets from the Foundry of Louis John Pouchée, 2 vol., one of 10 copies for presentation, from an edition of 210, 1992-93. - Est. £1,000-2,000
  • Forum Auctions
    The 10th Anniversary Sale
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    July 16, 2026
    Forum, July 16: Inundation papyrus. P.Michael 4, the ‘Inundation papyrus’, a geographical account of the Nile near Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript scroll on papyrus, Egypt, second century CE. £12,000-18,000
    Forum, July 16: Book of Hours, use of Sarum, manuscript on vellum, 6 full-page miniatures, with famous Middle English inscriptions, Southern Netherlands for the English market, [c.1430]. £30,000-50,000
    Forum, July 16: Qu'ran, Arabic manuscript on burnished, stencilled, and gold-flecked paper, 447ff., Sultanate Gujarat, Ahmadabad, [after 1411 but no later than 1442]. £15,000-20,000
    Forum Auctions
    The 10th Anniversary Sale
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    July 16, 2026
    Forum, July 16: Turner (William). A New boke of the natures and properties of all wines that are commonly vsed here in England, rare first edition of the first English book on wine, By William Seres, 1568. £20,000-£30,000
    Forum, July 16: Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene. first edition, Printed [by John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. £30,000-40,000
    Forum, July 16: Shakespeare (William). The Comedie of Errors, extracted from the first folio, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. £15,000-20,000
    Forum Auctions
    The 10th Anniversary Sale
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    July 16, 2026
    Forum, July 16: Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1953. £40,000-60,000
    Forum, July 16: d'Agoty (Jacques-Fabien Gautier). Anatomie de la Tête, first edition, Paris, chez le Sieur Gautier, 1748. £10,000-15,000
    Forum, July 16: Martial Arts.- Lee (Bruce). 'Praying Mantis style' Kung Fu book, containing numerous annotations, diagrams and graphs in Bruce Lee's hand, c. 1960. £50,000-70,000
    Forum Auctions
    The 10th Anniversary Sale
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    July 16, 2026
    Forum, July 16: Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, rare hand-coloured issue, 1848. £30,000-40,000
    Forum, July 16: Norie (John William). The Marine Atlas, or Seaman's Complete Pilot for all the principal places in the known world..., 1826. £30,000-50,000
    Forum, July 16: Mao Tse-tung.- Kim Il-sung.-[Note book for visitors from China to Korea], signed by Mao and Kim, [Beijing, 1954]. £10,000-15,000