Issue 62 Vol III, April 30, 2008

A R T  &  L I T E R A T U R E

Art as Commerce
Balvinder

THE Sotheby’s is an internationally known New York based auctioneer. The long list of objects that it had scheduled for auction on April 9, in London, included ancient Indian armour.

The auctioneer, obviously to boost its commercial interest, promoted this armour as a probable Sikh relic belonging to Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru. “The piece has strong stylistic similarities to a full set of armour in the possession of the Patiala royal family, which according to family lore was attributed to the Guru”, declared the catalogue of this particular auction.

This certainly angered quite a few Sikh organisations, including the SGPC, who went to the extent of seeking its ownership in case it was found to be a genuine Sikh relic.

Soon after realising that its ploy of projecting the piece as a religious relic instead of fostering the auction house’s basic commercial design it has put it in a controversial tight spot, it took a back step. “Armour isn’t of 10th Guru”, the auction house reportedly asserted and deferred the open auction of the armour!

This episode certainly has lowered the Sotheby’s much hyped credibility.

This is an age of crass commercialism and mutual distrust. No wonder that today whenever a medical practitioner asks his patient to take one or the other laboratory test he, more than often, is looked down upon with utter suspicion by his patient. More so because today there surely is a dearth of dedicated doctors who prescribe only genuinely needed lab tests.

In such a situation one cannot blindly trust organisations that are totally committed to commercialism. More so when art-auctioneers/dealers have a ‘great’ chequered past.

Joseph Duveen, (1869-1939), a British by birth, was one of the most influential art dealers of all time. His success is famously attributed to noticing that "Europe has a great deal of art, and America has a great deal of money."

He often would pay huge sums of money to established but money-corrupted grandees of art history. The famous art-historian Bernard Berenson was one of his beneficiaries.

“Bernard Berenson, who took considerable amounts from Joseph Duveen and others in exchange for pronouncing on the authenticity or inauthenticity of Old Master paintings at or near the point of sale. He tended to come down on the side of authenticity rather more than he might”, wrote Keith Miller while reviewing an art history book in TLS (September 2006).

He goes on to saying that, “Scholars of other fields in the humanities still peer unforgivingly at art-history’s credentials, not so much because it lacks intellectual heft (although some clearly suspect that it must be too enjoyable to be really worth doing) but because it is somehow corrupted by money, or, even more repulsively, inherited privilege”.

In the present armour’s sale deal the auctioneer’s privileged possession of the object is playing the pivotal role in its fast changing now-yes-now-no-faces.

Man always nurtures an extraordinary bond with his past. And market forces have fully been exploiting man’s this nostalgic sentiment to earn maximum monetary gains. Little wonder that the making and marketing of fake ancient-artefacts is also a flourishing trade today.

Most of the art historians also base their art theories on this human sentiment that is well portrayed in Shakespeare’s following  oft repeated quote; “past and to come seem best; things present worst”.

It is a well known secret that a majority of living miniature painters in Rajasthan, who paint with more finesse than a horde of those past painters whose paintings adorn museums and are sold at exuberant prices at the auctions of the likes of Sotheby’s, fail even to earn their daily bread.

They, however, manage to sell only those of their paintings which they paint at the rear of the weathered pages of ancient account books and pass them as antiques.

Similarly one can always get ‘freshly-made-antique’ bronze sculptures in as many numbers as one wants in many southern parts of our country.

From the ongoing armour controversy one thing has come out clearly: that although there is no restriction on anyone to tinker with man’s nostalgic sentiments for commercial gains yet playing with man’s religious faiths cannot be a profitable business preposition.

But then this is a mad-mad-money-world!

From Sotheby’s updated catalogue

SALEROOM NOTICE

This lot has been withdrawn at the Consignor's instruction.  Sotheby's has been asked by the Consignor to arrange the acquisition of the lot by a suitable member of the Sikh community.

Sotheby's has undertaken due diligence to verify the provenance of this piece, which is believed to date to the Eighteenth Century.  Sotheby's has not found or been given any evidence to indicate ownership of this piece by Guru Gobind Singh and we therefore do not deem the piece to be a relic of the Guru.

The piece has strong stylistic similarities to a full set of armour in the possession of the Patiala royal family, which according to family lore was attributed to the Guru.

The verse inscribed on the armour-plate had been originally composed by Guru Gobind Singh, although it has no necessary or exclusive connection to armour belonging (or attributed) to the Guru

[The writer is former Principal Government College Chandigarh. Contact at balvinder.artist@gmail.com]

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Gauhar Jan and Mahant Gajja Singh
Harjap Singh Aujla

DURING the early years of 20th century, Calcutta was not only the Imperial Capital of the Indian Sub-continent. It was also the cultural and business capital of India. The British rulers had kept its streets impeccably clean. It was a great center of arts, where music flourished like it does now in Bombay. Calcutta days could boast of a huge army of big name vocalists and even a bigger number of instrumentalists, all trained in strict Hindustani (North Indian) classical traditions.

The legendry Gramophone Company of India, displaying the label of a dog listening to his master through a voice horn and the Hindustan Recording Company, which recorded entire music of K.L. Saigal, had established their recording studios and manufacturing units in Calcutta. Recording was a very intricate job during those days as lower volumes were not picked up.

Gauhar Jan was the most significant recorded singer during those early days. She was also the highest paid artist of her time. She was a by-racial child. She was born in 1875 in Allahabad (Eastern U.P.) to an Albanian mother Allen Victoria Hemming.

After her mother’s divorce in 1879, both mother and daughter became Muslims. The mother assumed the name of Mullika Jan and named her child prodigy daughter as Gauhar Jan. From Allahabad and Calcutta, they made a timely move to Benares, the Mecca of education in arts and classical music of various genres. First of all both mother and daughter learnt the art of composing Urdu Poetry. As famous musical Gharana and a dancing Gharana were based in Benares, Gauhar Jan learnt dance from the most accomplished dancers of the time and singing from the best classical ustads. She learnt her chosen arts not only in Benares but also at other leading Gharanas of India.

By the age of twelve, Gauhar Jan (not Gauhar Sultan, who became a singing star during late thirties and forties) became an accomplished dancing singer. Even for the advanced city of Calcutta, this two in one combination was almost a novelty. As a twelve year old child, Gauhar Jan performed in front of the Maharaja of Dharbhanga (Bihar). The Maharaja and his entourage were highly impressed. From then on Gauhar Jan’s name and fame spread to all corners of India. The Maharajas and Nawabs came from far and wide to listen to her renditions. In Calcutta she became famous as a fellow Calcuttan. The elite in Calcutta were famous for its European opulence. Car manufacturing industry was still in its infancy and Gauhar Jan used to move about in a fancy Victoria Buggy drawn by four horses. The people used to line up on the roadsides to have a glimpse of her.

Being by-racial Gauhar Jan of Calcutta was very fair skinned. She was strongly built and had a special glow on her face, which a black and white camera can not portray. Gauhar Jan became very proficient in singing the semi-classical forms of music, including Thumri, Dadra, Kajri, Tappa, Chaiti, Ghazal, Bhajan and Tarana.

The then spirited ruler of the princely state of Patiala Maharaja Bhupinder Singh was a great connoisseur of whiskeys, beauties, music and sports. This was very well known to all those who knew him. Hearing about her, he also reached Calcutta to see her dance and sing. He was highly impressed by her rendition.

While returning to Patiala, Maharaja Bhupinder Singh invited Gauhar Jan to perform at his palace in Patiala. If the Maharaja was a very determined ruler, his would be guest was even more stubborn. Gauhar Jan refused point blank to perform at Patiala. The Maharaja was disappointed, but he was not in the habit of giving up. He had his own ways of accomplishing things.

After coming back, the Maharaja held a meeting with his advisors. These included some musicians like Bhai Chaila and an instrumentalist Mahant Gajja Singh. The Mahant wanted to be given a chance to persuade the reigning queen of singers. The Maharaja gave him enough money to stay for a long time in Calcutta, which during those days was India’s most expensive city.

The Mahant was a master of playing Saranda, Taus, Vachitra Veena and Sarangi. In Calcutta, he found out Gauhar Jan’s residence and spread his carpet on the street in its front. His long flowing beard gave the appearance of another Rabindra Nath Tagore. Accompanied by a good drummer, he tuned his Veena and started playing a difficult uncommon Raga. When the most soothing classical notes penetrated Gauhar Jan’s ears, she was totally mesmerized. She came down the stairs and sat on the floor in front of Mahant Gajja Singh. The maestro was deeply engrossed in his music. After finishing the composition, he looked up and saw the most beautiful fairy sitting on the floor. She introduced herself as Gauhar Jan of Calcutta. The Mahant smiled at her. Gauhar Jan requested the Mahant to perform at her residence and she offered a handsome amount of money to him. The Mahant said that he will perform, but he has a condition.

Gauhar Jan asked about the condition. The Mahant requested her to reciprocate with a performance at his own residence. Gauhar thought that he must be a poor ruralite, but she wanted to oblige the humble person. Later on the Mahant performed at the glittering residence of the queen of dance and music. Gauhar was pleased at the performance and she offered a huge monitory reward. The Mahant was a highly contented man. True to his nature, he declined the money, but requested the gracious lady to fulfill her promise.

Gauhar Jan wanted to know as to where the Mahant’s residence was. He replied “It is the Moti Bagh Palace at Patiala”. Gauhar was taken aback, but a promise is a promise. Once again she asked “Do you live in a palace”. The Mahant replied “I serve at the will of my maharaja, who is the Ruler of Patiala and lives in the Moti Bagh Palace at Patiala and I live as an insignificant person within the compound of the palace”. At this reply Gauhar Jan was left with no choice. As promised she came a thousand miles by train to Patiala and performed at the magnificent Moti Bagh Palace. She got a lot of appreciation and money from the Maharaja and the conversant audience of Patiala and left for Calcutta.

Some of Gauhar Jan’s music dating back to 1905 was archived in the personal collection of Late Allahdad Khan of Peshawar. Allahdad Khan died in 2004, but his collection of rare music survives to this day. Gauhar Jan had the qualities to become a popular film-star. After hearing her recordings, I don’t think she could match the brilliance of Lata Mangeshkar, but she certainly was capable of becoming a playback singer in her own right. She had an excellent command over Urdu language. Tragically she died in 1930, at the age of fifty five, just a year before India’s first talkie “Alam Ara” was released.

This story was narrated to me by Late Giani Gurdip Singh, the one time head priest of Gurdwara Richmond Hill New York. This was corroborated to a great extent by Raja Mrigendra Singh, son of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh, who lives in America.

E-mail:- harjapaujla@gmail.com

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