The late Jacques Desenfans, driven by his passion for Islamic, Indian and South East Asian history and culture, spent over 50 years amassing a most important collection, which includes arms and armour, early pottery and works of art.

On 10 April Bonhams, the international fine art auction house, will sell this fascinating collection, its star lot being a dagger that once belonged to Shah Jahan, the Mughal Emperor (reigned 1627 -1657), who built the Taj Mahal, as a memorial to his beloved wife.

In an article titled ‘Dagger For The Heart’, written for Bonhams Magazine, by William Dalrymple, the internationally acclaimed writer, author of The Last Mughal, City of Djinns and White Mughals, says: “The Emporer’s love of beautiful and precious objects - damascened and gold-embellished blades, enamels and hammered metals, precious lapidary, inlaid hardstones and inscribed gems - was something many visitors commented on. According to Edward Terry, the chaplain to the British ambassador, Shah Jahan was “the greatest and richest master of precious stones that inhabits the whole earth.”

The Jacques Desenfans Collection was funded by the wealth of the family who owned textile factories in Lyon and Marseilles. His beautiful house in Braine-L’Alleud near Brussels, left to him by his father Albert Desenfans, a well-known sculptor, gave him a superb visual context in which to house and inspire his ever-growing collection.

www.bonhams.com

Posted: 02|7|08 at 3:50 pm. Filed under: UK News.