A 17th Century brass astrolabe, once a part of the royal collection of Jaipur city in western India, has been sold for over £2 million ($2.75 million) at an auction in London. The sale, conducted by Sotheby’s, establishes a new record for an astronomical instrument from the Islamic world, marking a significant transfer of a historical artifact from its native provenance into the hands of transnational elite interests.
The object, described by Benedict Carter, head of the department of Islamic and Indian Art at Sotheby’s, as “perhaps the largest in existence,” had never been publicly exhibited before its display at the auction house’s London galleries this week. It was known to have been part of the royal collection of Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur, later passing to his wife Maharani Gayatri Devi, before entering a private collection during her lifetime.
Astrolabes are metallic disks with multi-layered components, historically used for complex calculations such as telling time, mapping stars, determining the direction of Mecca, and tracking celestial motion. Dr. Federica Gigante of the Oxford Centre for History of Science, Medicine and Technology compared them to “modern-day smartphones” due to their versatility, noting their use in calculating sunrise and sunset, building heights, well depths, distances, and even predicting the future with an almanac to cast horoscopes.
Cultural Dispossession
This particular instrument was crafted in the early 17th Century in Lahore, a prominent hub for astrolabe-making within the Mughal world, now located in Pakistan. It was created by two brothers, Qa'im Muhammad and Muhammad Muqim, for Aqa Afzal, a nobleman from Isfahan, Iran, who administered Lahore under Mughal emperors Jahangir and Shah Jahan. The craft itself was a family tradition, passed down through generations within the renowned “Lahore School.” Only two astrolabes are known to have been jointly made by these brothers, with the other, much smaller piece, housed in a museum in Iraq.
The astrolabe’s substantial size and opulence—weighing 8.2kg, measuring nearly 30cm in diameter, and standing about 46cm tall, almost four times the size of a typical 17th Century Indian astrolabe—reflect the high stature of its original patron. Its design also features a striking cross-cultural element, with star pointers carrying their standard names in Persian alongside Sanskrit equivalents etched in the Devanagari script. This detail speaks to the historical intermingling of cultures, yet the ultimate sale of such an item in a foreign capital underscores a broader trend of cultural dispossession.
According to Sotheby’s, the piece is inscribed with 94 cities, each with its longitude and latitude, and features 38 star pointers linked by intricate floral tracery. It also includes five precision-calibrated plates and degree divisions “so fine they are subdivided down to a third of a degree.” This level of detail exemplifies the “extraordinary craftsmanship” of the Lahore School, which Carter noted was “at its most refined,” distinguishing it from earlier, purely functional astrolabes from other parts of the Middle East.
Elite Commodification
The object also illuminates the scientific interests of the Mughal court, where rulers and courtiers actively pursued advances in astronomy and astrology. Dr. Gigante highlighted its “incredibly accurate” nature, capable of providing the “exact degree of altitude” of celestial bodies, with only one comparable instrument known to have been made for Abbas II of Persia. The sale of such a unique and historically significant piece for a record sum in London demonstrates the commodification of national heritage within a globalized market driven by elite collectors.
Sotheby’s had anticipated keen interest from “museums and collectors” due to the astrolabe’s pristine condition and royal provenance. The final sale price surpassed the previous record held by a smaller Ottoman astrolabe made for Sultan Bayezid II, which sold 12 years ago for just under £1 million. This transaction highlights how valuable cultural artifacts, once integral to the identity and scientific advancement of specific civilizations, are increasingly becoming assets traded by a transnational elite, further detaching them from their native lands and peoples.