Bonhams Unveils London Sales Series Spanning Islamic, South Asian and Middle Eastern Art

London – Bonhams presents a series of three exceptional live auctions at its New Bond Street saleroom this May and June, showcasing masterworks across Islamic and Indian Art (21 May 2026), Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art (2 June 2026), and Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art (4 June 2026). Nima Sagharchi Group Head of Middle Eastern, Islamic and South Asian Art commented: "This series of sales brings together an exceptional range of works that reflect both the depth of artistic traditions and the dynamism of modern and contemporary practice across these regions. From important historical material to museum-quality modern paintings, the auctions highlight the rich cross-cultural dialogues that continue to shape collecting today. We are particularly pleased to present Jehangir Sabavala's The Breakthrough, a rare and defining work, alongside such strong examples across all three categories." ISLAMIC AND INDIAN ART 21 May 2026, live auction at New Bond Street Leading the sale is an impressive collection of Indian miniature paintings from the collection of a distinguished London institution, the highlight of which is an important illustration from the celebrated 'large' Guler Basohli Bhagavata Purana series, depicting Krishna and the Gopis forcing their way out of the mouth of the snake demon Ugrasura before killing him. Attributed to Fattu or a close follower of Manaku, and dating to circa 1760–65, the work exemplifies the expressive narrative power and bold pictorial language of Basohli Guler painting at its height. The illustration is estimated at £100,000–150,000. Among the leading lots is a pair of impressive silver inlaid brass candlesticks made in Egypt or Greater Syria in the early 19th century and estimated at £45,000–55,000. Predating the Mamluk Revival style that emerged later in the 19th century in Cairo and Damascus, the candlesticks are notable for their scale and refined decoration. They carry a distinguished provenance, having belonged to Sir Hickman Beckett Bacon (1855–1945), the 11th Baronet of Redgrave and 12th Baronet of Mildenhall. While best known as a foremost collector of British watercolours - his celebrated collection includes works by Turner, Girtin and Parkes Bonington-Bacon also travelled extensively and formed collections abroad, particularly during his time in the Middle East. The auction also features a rare and exceptionally fine gold koftgari steel sword (tulwar), depicting Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru. Produced in either Lahore or Kashmir in the second half of the 19th century, the sword reflects a period of continued refinement in Mughal influenced armoury traditions in the Punjab. Surviving examples of this quality and iconographic complexity are extremely scarce, and the sword is offered with an estimate of £80,000–120,000. Completing the selection of highlights is a collection of steel Quoits, regimental turban ornaments (pugri), a gajgah and other accoutrements of the Sikh Akali-Nihang, all mounted on a wooden shield. Made in the Punjab in the late 19th to early 20th century, the estimate is £20,000–30,000. The collection belonged to George Burnett Abercrombie Rind (born 1880), an officer who served with the 33rd Punjabis and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. After retiring from the army in the early 1920s, Rind returned to England and built Allenbrook, his home in Dale, Pembrokeshire, where he displayed his Indian artefacts. Although the exact ancestor who acquired the Sikh objects is unknown, they are documented on the walls of Allenbrook, mounted on the same shield, in a family photograph dated 1947, attesting to their long standing preservation within the collection. MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY SOUTH ASIAN ART 2 June 2026, live auction at New Bond Street Leading the highlights of the sale is The Breakthrough by Jehangir Sabavala (1922–2011), estimated at £300,000–500,000. This work represents a seminal moment in the artist's career, in which his painterly language coalesces with striking clarity and conviction. Executed at a pivotal juncture, the painting brings together many of Sabavala's defining characteristics, restrained geometry, a profound sense of meditative stillness, and a nuanced orchestration of tonal relationships, resolved here with a renewed sense of purpose and formal confidence. Also featured is Kattingeri Krishna Hebbar's (1911–1996) Untitled (Krishna Tames Kaliya Nag), estimated at £100,000–150,000. Hebbar's oeuvre is distinguished by its synthesis of Indian classical and folk traditions with the formal and philosophical concerns of twentieth-century Western modernism. Drawing on the Hindu mythological episode of Kaliya Mardan, the work depicts the moment in which Lord Krishna subdues the venomous multi-headed serpent Kaliya Nag, who had poisoned the waters of the Yamuna River at Vrindavan. As the legend recounts, Krishna dances upon the serpent's many heads, compelling him to retreat and thereby restoring balance and harmony to the land. Further highlighting the sale is Francis Newton Souza's (1924–2002) Ancient City, estimated at £15,000–20,000. The work demonstrates Souza's distinctive synthesis of classical discipline and the vibrant dynamism characteristic of his early practice. The cityscape is rendered with medieval features, densely packed buildings, fortified walls, and towers crowned with spire-like roofs, articulated through tightly defined geometric black outlines that lend the composition a strong sense of formal precision. Rooted in European modernist traditions yet unmistakably individual in style, the composition conveys subtle movement and vitality; buildings appear animated and gently shifting, while tilting trees contribute to the work's underlying sense of rhythmic energy. MODERN & CONTEMPORARY MIDDLE EASTERN ART 4 June 2026, live auction at New Bond Street Leading the sale is Huguette Caland's Girl Skipping Rope (1998–2000), estimated at £150,000–300,000, a monumental and deeply personal painting from the artist's final period. Offered from an important private UK collection, the work is among four highly significant Caland pieces to appear in the sale. Girl Skipping Rope stands as one of the most ambitious and emotionally layered works of her later career, in which memory, desire and autobiography converge with extraordinary candour. The painting formed one of the centrepieces of Caland's major museum retrospectives in Madrid and Hamburg and relates closely to key works exhibited in her landmark Beirut exhibitions. A highlight of Lebanese modernism, Saliba Douaihy's Bay of Akkar, estimated at £50,000–80,000, represents one of the most important transitional works of the artist's career. Painted at a moment of artistic breakthrough, the work captures Douaihy standing on the threshold between landscape and abstraction, no longer tentatively approaching modernism but confidently embracing its possibilities. Preserved for decades in the collection of the artist's nephew and appearing on the market for the first time, this coastal landscape is both exceptionally fresh and a major document of Douaihy's passage from observed nature to pure form. Also offered is Saliba Douaihy's Bsharri, estimated at £50,000–80,000, an important early painting executed in the 1930s and exhibited at the New York World's Fair in 1939. Depicting the artist's native northern Lebanon, the work belongs to the formative chapter of Douaihy's career, when he was establishing his reputation through lyrical landscapes, years before the radical abstraction of his later American period. Rare and historically significant, it offers vital insight into the roots of one of Lebanon's most original twentieth-century artists. Two highly significant paintings by Fahr El-Nissa Zeid are presented, each estimated at £20,000–30,000, both formerly in the collection of the artist's personal assistant. Among them is Cataclysm, a powerful and meaningful work from Zeid's late 1950s oeuvre and the first painting listed in the brochure for her landmark 1957 solo exhibition at London's Lord's Gallery. The second Zeid highlight, Bayezid Mosque (Bayazıt Camisi), is a rare and evocative view of the Bayezid II Mosque, situated on the historic square the artist famously drew to acclaim in 1945. Dating from the 1940s, the painting stands apart within Zeid's oeuvre as a rare figurative architectural vision from a period increasingly dominated by abstraction, further enhancing its significance within her body of work. Completing the selection is Marwan Kassab Bachi's Untitled (No. 105), estimated at £4,000–6,000, offered from the collection of Timothy Egert of Washington DC. A compelling example of Marwan's introspective approach to the human condition, the work reflects the psychological intensity that define the Syrian artist's distinctive figurations. In addition, Bonhams will host an event with Huguette Caland's daughter, Brigitte Caland on 31 May, who will offer personal insights into her mother's work. Caland's international recognition has continued to grow, with three major museum retrospectives across four countries in recent years, and another forthcoming in 2026. Highlights include presentations at Tate (2019), Museo Reina Sofía (2025), and Deichtorhallen Hamburg (2026), with a major upcoming retrospective also scheduled at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.