18th century ivory furniture on sale at Sotheby’s

London – Two pairs of 18th century chairs and a settee from the same era, custom-made for Warren Hastings, governor general of Bengal from 1772 to 1785, will go under the hammer at Sotheby’s here Dec 4. The furniture is made of ivory.

Made in Murshidabad, the items were once a part of a suite of furniture commissioned by Mani Begum – widow of Mir Jafar, Nawab of Murshidabad – for Hastings.

Some of the other pieces from the suite are currently in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

“The items represent a rare opportunity to acquire an exquisite example of the very best decorative arts from the Indian subcontinent, showing the cross cultural fertilisation of that historical period and an important document of the di! plomatic relations between Indian rulers and the British Empire,” Sothe! by’s said in a statement.

“It is a rare opportunity for connoisseurs to collect and preserve lauded pieces fit for a museum or a palace,” it added.

While a pair of chairs each is expected to fetch between 150,000-250,000 pounds, the settee is likely to raise between 100,000-150,000 pounds.