LONDON.- An important Old Master portrait from the collection of the late Queen of Jordan, Sharifa Dina Bint Abdul-Hamid, is among the leading works to be offered at Bonhams Islamic and Indian Art sale in London on Tuesday 22 October. The Portrait of Nur Al-Din Hussain Khan by the British artist James Wales, is estimated at £50,000-70,000.

Nur Al-Din Hussain Khan was the vakil or agent to Sir Charles Malet, the East India Company’s Resident at the Court of the Maratha Empire in Poona in the last quarter of the 18th century.

The painting was executed in 1792 by James Wales, who had arrived in India the previous year. Initially he worked in Bombay, but moved to Poona after an introduction to Sir Charles Malet. (Following his return to England in 1798, Sir Charles married Wales’s daughter Susanna). Wales painted portraits of many members of the European community in Poona, as well as leading figures in the Maratha Court, including that of Nur Al-Din Hussain Khan.

Bonhams Head of Islamic and Indian Art, Oliver White, said: “This serene work is in excellent condition. It is also a fascinating insight into one of the rarely documented Indian courts and exemplifies the work of British artists in India in the late 18th century. It also serves to illustrate the close relationship between the Maratha Court and the British during this period.”

The sale also features a fine 17th Ottoman velvet and metal-thread panel from the collection of Sharifa Dina Bint Abdul-Hamid. It is estimated at £15,000-20,000.

A Hashemite Princess, Sharifa Dina Bint Abdul-Hamid was married to her distant cousin King Hussain of Jordan, whom she had first met in London when he was a pupil at Harrow School and she was studying English at Girton College Cambridge. The marriage lasted from 1955 until their divorce in 1957. In later life, Princess Dina taught English at Cairo University.