Christie's sold 95 Indian and Persian paintings from Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan's collection for £45.8 million, led by Basawan's family of cheetahs.
Christie’s King Street in St James’s sold Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan’s Indian and Persian paintings on Tuesday 28 October 2025. The £45.8 million total was the highest for any sale of South Asian art.
Sadruddin, born in France in 1933 to the third Aga Khan, served as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 1966 to 1977. He formed the collection with Princess Catherine between the 1960s and 1980s. The couple lived among the paintings at the Château de Bellerive on Lake Geneva.
The 95 lots ran from the 16th to the 19th century, across Ottoman, Mughal, Deccani and Rajput work and Isfahani painters such as Reza Abbasi. Many pages carry personal labels on the back, marking gifts between the couple.
Christie’s, at King Street since 1823, had expected the sale to exceed £8 million. A Family of Cheetahs in a Rocky Landscape, attributed to Basawan and made around 1575 to 1580, led at £10.2 million. That is the highest price paid at auction for a classical Indian or Islamic painting.
Company School pages from the Fraser Album showed life in early 19th-century Delhi.