Truck Art – Quintessentially Pakistani

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truck art bags, Truck art in Pakistan, truck art jewellery, truck art shoes

While truck art has been around for quite a while, it is only recently that this quintessentially Pakistani art form has found its way into Pakistan’s high-end couture, the collections of web-based websites that sell everything under the sun, as well as street fashion.

Truck art, characterised by vibrant colours, borrows various elements from different regions of Pakistan, including cut mirror work indigenous to Sindh and Balochistan, portraits of popular film actors, not to mention the picturesque mountainous terrains of the northern areas.

Here is how truck art is being used to up the glam quotient in ensembles: 

Clothing. Embroidered motifs of Lollywood and Bollywood actors, exotic animals such as peacocks and serpents, and vibrant natural elements such as waterfalls and flowers are increasingly being used in kurtis and T-shirts. Cheekier versions include the kohl-lined eyes of a woman coupled with lines of ‘truck poetry’ including ‘dekh magar pyaar say’. Bright coloured tassels and small metal bells (similar to ghungroos) are often used on hemlines to add drama.

Amin Jaffer Picks Untitled (2000) By Aisha Khalid

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1st century, Aisha Khalid, Amin Jaffer, chequered vortex, Christie's, Gouache, Islamic art, miniature painting, New York, Pakistan, South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art., tea wash, trompe-l’œi, Untitled (2000)

Untitled (2000)
By Aisha Khalid
Gouache, tea wash and ink on card
Signed and dated ‘Aisha Khalid 2000’ (lower left)
Dimensions: 32.9 x 32.9 centimetres (13 x 13 inches)
Estimated price: $10,000–15,000
Price realised: $11,250

The early 21st century has brought the work of contemporary painters from Pakistan to the attention of curators and collectors worldwide. A particular appreciation has been drawn by a school of artists whose work is inspired by miniature painting, addressing issues relevant to the contemporary world.

Amin Jaffer Selects a Carved Ivory Model of the Hazarduari Palace in Murshidabad

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Amin Jaffer, Anglo-Indian carved ivory model of the Hazarduari Palace, Bengal Corps of Engineers, Christie's, Colonel Duncan Macleod, From the Vault at Christie’s, Hamayun Jah, Hanoverian Order, Hazarduari, Hazarduari Palace, Mubarak Ali Khan, Murshidabad, Nawab of Bengal, Royal Guelphic, Sagore Mistri, The Collection of Professor Sir Albert Richardson

A Remarkable Anglo-Indian Carved Ivory Model of the HazarduariPalace in Murshidabad
Circa 1837
Estimated price: £30,000-50,000
Dimensions:
Height: 18 centimetres (7.06 inches) Width: 96.8 centimetres (38.5 inches)
Depth: 47 centimetres (18.5 inches)

Having remained unseen and untouched for almost half a century, the Collection of Professor Sir Albert Richardson, P.R.A. (1880-1964) – the celebrated collector, architect and President of the Royal Academy (1954-1956) – will be auctioned over two days in London later this month.

Providing a window into an older, some would say more civilised world, the piece that caught my eye is a remarkable Anglo-Indian carved ivory model of the HazarduariPalace in Murshidabad, made around 1837, which the Professor bought for £50 in 1949.

Amin Jaffer selects Untitled (Bull Handler Haripura Poster) By Nandalal Bose

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Abanindranath Tagore, Amin Jaffer, Bull Handler Haripura Poster, collection of Supratik Bose, early Indian modernism, From the Vault at Christie’s, Gitanjali, Indian National Congress Party meeting, M.K. Gandhi, Nandalal Bose, Nobel Prize in Literature, postcards, poster of a bull and man, Rabindranath Tagore, South Asian modern art, Untitled, Where the mind is without fear

Untitled (Bull Handler Haripura Poster)
By Nandalal Bose (1882-1966)
Tempera on paper
Size: 63.5 x 59.7 centimetres (25 x 23.5 inches)
Estimated price: $30,000-50,000

In a few days’ time I will be in New York for our Asia Week auctions. In the category of South Asian modern art, this season’s highlight is a group of 81 exceptional works from the collection of Supratik Bose, Nandalal Bose’s grandson.

Amin Jaffer Picks The Stephen S. Palmer Patek Philippe Grand Complication No. 97912

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18 carat, 1898, Amin Jaffer, Christie’s New York, Christie’s New York Sale of Important Watches, Estimated price, gold, Grand Complication, Grand Complications, moon phases, open-face, Palmer watch, Patek Philippe, perpetual calendar chronograph, pink, pocket watch, price, Price realized, sold for $2.2 million, The Stephen S. Palmer Patek Philippe Grand Complication No. 97912, timepieces, Vault at Christies, world auction record

The Stephen S. Palmer Patek Philippe Grand Complication
No. 97912 (1898)
An 18 carat pink gold open-face, perpetual calendar chronograph
with moon phases
Estimated price: $1,000,000-1,500,000
Price realised: $1,701,690
A world auction record for a Patek Philippe complication.

A pocket watch by Patek Philippe which was sold for $2.2 million at Christie’s in New York last month has caused quite a stir! Never seen before in public, The Stephen S. Palmer Patek Philippe Grand Complication No. 97912 will send scholars back to the reference books to rewrite the history of Grand Complications – the most covetable and complex of all timepieces.

Amin Jaffer selects the Maharaja of Patiala’s Banqueting Service

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$2.9 million, 1, 1921, 1922, 20 Rolls Royces, 400 pieces, Amin Jaffer, An important and extensive George V silver-gilt dinner service, Captain of the Indian cricket team, Christie’s Exceptional Sale, dinner service, Duke of Windsor, Estimated price, February 24, Garrards, Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Company, King Edward VIII, London, magnificent banquet, Maharaja, Maharaja of Patiala, Price realized, Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, set a new world auction record for an English dinner service, the first man in India to own an aircraft, The Maharaja of Patiala’s Banqueting Service, three-day royal visit

The Maharaja of Patiala’s Banqueting Service (1921)
An important and extensive George V silver-gilt dinner service;
bears the mark of the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Company, London
Estimated price: $1,600,000-2,300,000
Price realised: $2,995,994

It is always a pleasure to dine in style and at a recent sale at Christie’s I was able to see just how lavishly this could be done by a Maharaja. We were fortunate to be offering a dinner service, originally for 200 guests, which was commissioned by the Maharaja of Patiala in honour of a tour of India in 1922 by Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII and Duke of Windsor. 

Amin Jaffer Picks An Indian Blackwood Armchair

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1850 to 1900, 19th century, Ahmedabad, Amin Jaffer, An Indian Blackwood Armchair, blackwood, Bombay, Bombay blackwood industry, Bombay Presidency, carving, English pattern book designs, Estimated price, exuberant, From the Vault at Christie’s, furniture makers, Gujarat, Interiors sale, London, Louis XV style, luxury, mid-19th century, middle 18th century, pale pink covered seat, pierced foliage, Profusely carved, rich, rosewood furniture, Surat, third quarter, traditional motifs

An Indian Blackwood Armchair
Bombay Presidency, third quarter, 19th century
Profusely carved with pierced foliage and a pale pink covered seat
Estimated price: $1,000-1,400

From about 1850 to 1900, Bombay was the production centre of a particular type of rosewood furniture known as ‘blackwood’. It was typified by its rich, exuberant carving which was often pierced right through.

Amin Jaffer selects Tapetum by Kenneth Noland

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American colour field, Amin Jaffer, artist, bands, chevrons, Christie's, colour, colour saturation, expanses of colour, First Open: Summer Edition Sale, flatness, from the vault at Christie's, horizontal bands, iconic motifs, Kenneth Noland, large, New York, rigid compositional format, scale, stripe paintings, stripes paintings, stylist phase, Tapetum, targets

Tapetum (1970)
By Kenneth Noland
Acrylic on canvas
Size: 221.6 x 612.1 centimetres (87.25 x 241 inches)
Estimated price: $80,000-120,000
Price realised: $147,750

An important work by leading contemporary American colour field artist Kenneth Noland (1924-2010) is to be offered in the First Open: Summer Edition Sale at Christie’s in New York.

Holly Brackenbury selects Horse And Rider By Dame Elisabeth Frink

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Bronze Sculpture, Camargue, Dame Elisabeth Frink, Dame Elisabeth Frink RA (1930-1993), Dover Street, Holly Brackenbury, Holly Brackenbury selects Horse And Rider By Dame Elisabeth, Horse And Rider, life-sized sculpture, London, Mayfair, Piccadilly, Sotheby’s Modern & Post-War British Art Sale, south of France, Suffolk, The Times

Horse And Rider
By Dame Elisabeth Frink, RA (1930-1993)
Bronze Sculpture
Signed, dated ‘75’ and numbered ‘2/3’
Height: 244 centimetres (96 inches)
Estimated price: £600,000-800,000

Amin Jaffer selects Two Women And A Child By Henry Moore

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Amin Jaffer, articulating figures, artist, Christie’s Modern British Art Evening Sale, coloured crayon, draughtsman, Henry Moore, Henry Moore Foundation, Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, ink, London, Moore/40, Pencil, pencil and ink, printmaker, Two Women And A Child, Two Women And A Child By Henry Moore, upright figure sculptures, visual arts, watercolour, watercolour wash, wax crayon

Two Women And A Child
By Henry Moore, OM
Pencil, wax crayon, coloured crayon, watercolour wash and ink
Signed and dated ‘Moore/40’ (lower right)
Size: 40 x 30 centimetres (15.75 x 11.75 inches)
Estimated price: £76,000-110,000