Baroda’s Pearl Canopy fetches $2.2 million

VADODARA: Belying all estimates, the famed Baroda Pearl Canopy that went under the hammer at Christie’s Inc on Wednesday fetched a whopping $22,35,000 — almost double of what the auctioneers were expecting. The current auctioned price at the British auction house is less than what it had fetched In April 2011 at Sotheby’s New York, where a bidder paid $23,22,500 for the canopy.
The canopy was part of Christie’s Maharajas and Mughal Magnificence auction, wherein 386 items were open for bidding.The sale included the ceremonial sword of the Nizam of Hyderabad, Tipu Sultan’s Magic Box and several other antiques dating back to the Mughal era. The canopy was on display in the Indian Art Exhibition in Delhi in 1902-03.

“The canopy adorned the seat of Maharani Sitadevi Gaekwad, who was the second wife of Maharaja Pratapsinhrao Gaekwad, the last ruler of Baroda state,” said Jeetendrasinh Gaekwad, great-grandnephew of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III.
The canopy was part of Maharajas and Mughal Magnificence auction
Canopy is one of the only two surviving pieces
The canopy is one of the only two surviving pieces that was commissioned by Maharaja Khanderao Gaekwad in 1865. The other is the Baroda Pearl Carpet which is currently at the Qatar Museum. The carpet was auctioned by Sotheby’s for $5.4 million at Doha in 2009,” Jeetendrasinh Gaekwad, great-grandnephew of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III said.
“Maharaja Khanderao intended to offer the canopy as a gift on the tomb of Prophet Mohammed in Medina as he had planned to do Haj in 1871.
He had brought in artists from the Ottoman empire to make this carpet in the 1860s.
Unfortunately, he passed away at the age of 42 in 1870, before he could fulfil his desire,” Jeetendrasinh said, adding that Sitadevi took the canopy with her when she left with Pratapsinhrao for Britain in 1952.