LONDON, ENGLAND.- An unusual pair of portraits of Mr Sake Deem Mahomed - the founder of one of Brighton’s first ’massage parlours’ and the UK’s first Indian Takeaway - and his wife, Jane, will be auctioned at Bonhams’ Sale of Portrait Miniatures, in London next week.

Born in Patna, Hindustan, in 1749, Sake Deem Mahomed, trained as a medical student in Calcutta and joined the army as a surgeon, where he served under Captain Baker of the East India Company service. In 1784, he resigned his commission and accompanied Baker to Cork, where he perfected his English. Whilst there, he met his future wife, Jane. Together they settled in Brighton - a town that was blooming under the patronage of the Prince of Wales.



In 1786 Mahomed opened an oriental massage parlour called ’The Indian Medicated Vapour and Shampooing Bath’ in the King’s Road, Brighton. It soon became a great success attracting important members of Brighton society, including the Prince.Following Mahomed’s success, he opened another shop in Ryder Street, London, where his system of massage, using Indian oils and spices - reputed to be greatly beneficial to one’s well-being - gained him respect in the community and a reputation unmatched. He later diversified his business interests by bringing the UK its first Indian Takeaway, which he set up in 1807, in Portman Square, London.



Mahomed retired in 1843 and both he and his wife died within two months of each other - Jane in 1850 and Mahomed in 1851, aged 101.