Elveden Hall chairs from India's last Sikh ruler sell for £8k

27 November 2025

George KingSuffolk

News image — Maharajah Duleep Singh decorated the Elveden Hall estate, where he once resided, with these two sought-after Bombay blackwood chairs

Olympia Auctions Two chairs with tall backs that have been carved in an intricate style are pictured against a white backdrop. The chairs are made of a dark wood and have white cushions on them where a person would sit. — Maharajah Duleep Singh decorated the Elveden Hall estate, where he once resided, with these two sought-after Bombay blackwood chairs

Two 19th Century chairs that belonged to the last Sikh ruler of India have been sold for thousands of pounds after going under the hammer.

Maharajah Duleep Singh's Bombay blackwood chairs, from his former home at Elveden Hall, on the Suffolk-Norfolk border, went up for auction yesterday.

Sold by Olympia Auctions, the chairs were crafted in Bombay - now called Mumbai - in about 1850 and featured Indian motifs and friezes of acanthus leaves.

The bidding started at £5,000, and they were expected to sell for anywhere up to £12,000, but after a bidding war, they fetched £8,000.

Getty Images A portrait of Duleep Singh on paper that has aged over time and gone brown. He looks away from the camera and is expressionless. He has 19th Century traditional Indian headwear on as well as clothing. He also has a dark and thick beard. — India's last Sikh ruler lived at Elveden Hall from 1849 until his death in 1893

Duleep Singh was the youngest son of Maharajah Ranjit Singh, who founded the Sikh Empire in the Punjab in 1799.

He inherited the title of Sikh Maharajah at five years old, but after the annexation of the Sikh Empire by the British in 1849, he was exiled to Elveden Hall.

He purchased the estate in 1863 and, after he died aged 55 in 1893, he was buried in the grounds.

The site later changed hands, with Edward Cecil Guinness, from the Guinness brewing family, buying it in 1894 - but Singh's chairs remained.

Ancient House Museum A black and white image showing the inside of Elveden Hall. There are a number of tables and ornate chairs spread out in a room with a large fireplace on one side, and mirrored walls on the other. — Duleep Singh chair's remain at the estate after his death

Nicholas Shaw, a specialist at Olympia Auctions, said the two chairs attracted "wide interest" due to their "legacy, quality and craftsmanship".

"These chairs bear witness to the Maharajah Duleep Singh's admiration for quality craftsmanship and his efforts to create a home that reflected both his Indian heritage and his place in English society," she said.

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