Princely 1930s furniture in India

I was very impressed by a triple-mirrored dressing table dating back to the early 1930s and belonging to the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan. It was a very expensive object in 1930, but that was no problem. As a 1937 cover story in Time magazine reminded readers, this Indian prince was the richest man in the world then, with a fortune of $2 billion. As an autonomous state, His Exalted Highness was the absolute ruler of 16 million people in Hyderabad; he established his own bank and issued his own currency - the Hyderabadi rupee. The Nizam was a very generous man with a strong connection the British Empire, especially during the First World War.

mahogany dressing table, c1930

Apparently the Nizam of Hyderabad presented the dresser as gift to one of his 7 wives or 42 concubines. Wonderfully detailed portraits of the Nizam in regal Indian dress were enamelled on each and every dresser piece; presumably this was to remind the lucky lady of her benefactor, each morning and evening as she performed her toilette.

This important custom-made mahogany dressing table was a rectangular chest with a serpentine panelled top with banded inlay. It lifted to allow the placement of two scallop shaded electric lights. The central bevelled dressing mirror had a swing illuminated mirror on each side. There was a quarter-round glass tray on either side. The vanity surface was detailed with varied storage and hidden drawers, the base housing a bank of three drawers on the right, the left with actual top drawer and two faux drawers that open as a door with a hidden latch to reveal a key lock safe, the whole rising on six acanthus carved legs on short block feet. When opened, the dressing table was 60”/153 cm high.

                                    mirrors and wings closed into a kneehole desk

This piece of furniture was metamorphic, but not in the sense used in an earlier post - it couldn't be turned upside down and a step ladder pulled out from under its legs, for example. But it did have two separate functions. When the mirrors were closed and the side trays tucked inside, the object looked like a normal mahogany kneehole desk i.e with space underneath for the person’s legs. There were Chippendale style carved bracket feet and banks of pedestals fitted with lockable faux drawers to the left that concealed a safe. The drawers to the right were fitted with ormolu chased swan neck handles.

The interior completely fitted with a 30 piece Art Deco sterling silver and cut glass vanity set, hallmarked and stamped for Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Co Ltd, 1930, each piece finely enamelled with a Royal portrait medallion showing images of the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad. The set comprised brushes, bottles with hinged lids and interior stoppers, hand mirror, jars, scissors, nail buffer fitted in a cut dish, files and an 8-day clock. Each squared bottle was etched on the corners with the moon and star symbol.

silver and glass vanity set, Art Deco, with princely portraits

The fine arts world expected the dressing table to be considered an important treasure for the people of India, perhaps symbolising the grandeur of India's royal past.

Two auction houses listed this magnificent piece of furniture in the last few years. So I have to ask if the same object sold twice within a very short time, by the Austin Auction Company in Texas in 2010 and by Butchoff Antiques in London in 2011. If so, why was the dressing table valued at only £12,600/USA $20,000 by the Americans, yet it was valued at £175,000/USA $ 277,000 by the British less than one year later.

7th Nizam of Hyderabad, Time Magazine, 1937