TREASURES OF GANDHI
Icon’s personal items tipped to fetch £500k in historic sale
GANDHI’S belongings including his hand-made loincloths, wooden sandals and spectacles are expected to raise up to £500,000 at auction.
The 70-piece collection includes letters the Indian independence leader wrote in prison.
There is also what is believed to be the last photo taken of him before his assassination in 1948.
Andrew Stowe, of East Bristol Auctions which sold a pair of Gandhi’s spectacles for £260,000 in 2020, said: “This collection is so important to the history of our world. It will blow people away.”
The photo in the collection was taken in the same place at Birla House, New Delhi, where Mahatma
Gandhi was shot dead three weeks later – the chair he is perched on in the picture is the same he sat on during the day he was killed.
Andrew said: “We believe his personal doctor took the photo and have reason to think it is one of, if not the last, known photo taken of the man before he was shot.”
An additional highlight in the auction are Gandhi’s trademark loincloths, which he wove himself from khadi, a fine cotton he urged all Indians to wear.
Andrew added: “Not only was this worn by Gandhi, but actually made by him too. Gandhi used khadi as a means to cast away Western culture and clothing, and return India to more traditional clothes. This means so much more than just a piece of clothing – it was his biggest political statement.”
One of the letters Gandhi wrote in prison reveals his desperation to discard Western culture.
The sale also features a pair of his sunglasses, an inkwell from his desk and a pair of spectacles. Andrew said the collection’s “cultural and historical significance is immeasurable”.
This collection will blow people away
ANDREW STOWE AUCTIONEER