The Collection of Indian and Persian Art belonging to the late scholar, curator and connoisseur Stuart Cary Welch was one of the greatest of its kind formed in recent times. The second part of the sale of this collection, “Arts of India”, will take place at Sotheby’s in London on Tuesday 31 May 2011. Comprising Rajput, later Mughal, Company School and Himalayan paintings, drawings and works of art, the sale contains many dramatic and exquisite works of great rarity, importance and quality, as well as a wide range of more affordable drawings, sketches and decorative arts from the 13th to the 20th century.

Among a host of highly important and rare items to be offered is a Mandala signed by Jasaraja Jirili and dated 1365 (lot 84). This exquisite Vasudhara Mandala was painted during the reign of the Nepalese Malla king Jayarjunadeva (r.1361-1382), and remains a document to the artistic genius that made Newar artists famed and sought-after throughout the Himalayan region, and as far afield as the Chinese imperial courts.