Osian's Auction Catalogue Indian Antiquities and Modern and Contemporary Fine Arts | June 2015

of the world, developed such outstanding, magnificent objects of art. Only later did we begin to understand the spread of India’s influence to the Himalayas via Buddhism. We decided to spend time and our then small resources on the acquisition of such paintings, hoping also to contribute a little to the world-wide effort to save these artifacts from destruction. From that time on, Angela and I never stopped looking for thanka and our old friend and advisor, Prof. P. Pal helped us with his enormous knowledge and guidance. Various great collectors in the USA and elsewhere visited us in Ettingen and also helped us better understand Himalayan art in general. Finally, Hugo Kreijger suggested writing the catalogues, thus providing interested parties with the opportunity to see pictures of some outstanding specimens in what became known as “The Jucker Collection.” During our uncountable trips to India, Nepal and Sikkim,Angela and I managed to find a few exceptional thankas and I was lucky to meet an important dealer in antiquities, Shiv Batra… During this epoch, we were fortunate to assemble some of our most cherished objects…In the middle of the 1960s, I was politically engaged in India and had to visit this country so often…I met Mrs. Gandhi a few times in her office for private discussions… after talking business, Mrs. Gandhi once inquired about my private interests and I told her about collecting Indian folk bronzes and Nepalese and Tibetan thankas. She knew practically nothing about these manifestations of art and asked whether I could publish a couple of articles in an Indian periodical. Since the then Chief Editor of Illustrated Weekly, Khushwant Singh, was a close, long- standing friend, having stayed a few times in our home in Switzerland, it presented no problems to publish two illustrated articles on the above subjects, and as a consequence, we became quite well known to a number of persons in India. From that time on, Indian folk bronzes and Nepalese and Tibetan thankas started coming to us by themselves and collecting became much easier than it was before…It is with sadness that due to my having reached almost biblical age, and due to our careful planning of a new phase of our life, we have decided to part with these ‘children of ours…whatever we “possess”, we keep only for a while, being more “caretakers” than “owners”, so we can part with “our” beloved thanka collection without shedding too many tears.” detail Lot 2 Anonymous,Tibetan Tradition Indian Antiquities, Modern & Contemporary Fine Arts