The Hindu Business Line : Making a bow into the South

The items to be auctioned in Bangalore include furniture, porcelain, traditional figurines, glassware and paintings from the Tanjore and Mysore school.

NEW DELHI, Nov. 9

AFTER one year of operations, India's first full-service auction house, Bowrings Art Auctioneers, is ready to test the waters in South India. After a winter auction of European and Contemporary Art in New Delhi next week, it's next stop is going to be Bangalore, where for the first time Bowrings will conduct a House Contents Sale of the property of Dhanalakshmi Fordyce and other owners.

"The year has been a period of learning for us and slowly, we are beginning to expand our network to the east, south and west of the country," says Patrick Bowring, Deputy Chairman of the company.

The items to be auctioned in Bangalore are picked up from that part of the country itself and include furniture, porcelain, traditional figurines, glassware and paintings from the Tanjore and Mysore school. Bowrings hopes to attract a clientele from all the southern states and develop a market of buyers and sellers in the region.

The Delhi auction too is going to see many firsts. For instance, this perhaps may be the first time that such a large representation of works by Ravi Verma would be on sale at one point. The other attraction at the auction is a ceiling mural by Husain entitled, `Glimpses of Indian History'. Originally commissioned by a five-star property, this is the largest work that the artist has ever undertaken.

Being essentially an Indian company with P.R.S. Oberoi as chairman, Bowrings has undertaken the task of first-time valuations as well. In fact, a few months ago, the company conducted an open house valuation in Kolkata where collectors were encouraged to bring out their `house silver' and benefit from a professional valuation.

"We do not ask them to sell, but when they want to they will know who to go to," says Bowrings as he states his company's mission to establish an open and legitimate art market within India so that sellers are assured of receiving the best price and purchasers can buy genuine articles at fair market value.

After Bangalore, Bowrings is scheduled to go to Kolkata in the new year and venture into Mumbai by April.

Purely functioning as agents, the company hopes to offer Indian buyers and collectors all kinds of items including contemporary Indian art, textiles, jewellery, armour, furniture, clocks and watches, European paintings, even film memorabilia.

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