Gandhi’s Spectacles on Auction

New York: Mahatma Gandhi’s iconic spectacles are in an auction on March 4 and 5 by Michelle Halpern of Antiquorum Auctioneers in New York. These articles are expected to fetch over US$ 50,000.
According to a report in The Telegraph, London, the Mahatma’s sandals, his pocket watch and a bowl and plate are other items in the auction list.

The iconic pair of metal-rimmed glasses, intimately associated with Gandhiji’s persona, were apparently given away in the 1930s to one Colonel H A Shiri Diwan Nawab who had asked the leader for inspiration. “They were passed down through the colonel’s family and we have a letter of provenance from his grandson. The sandals were given to a British military officer in 1931 prior to the Round Table talks in London,” Halpern was quoted as saying.

The leather sandals were given to the British officer out of gratitude for having taken some pictures of the Mahatma, the auctioneers said. This was in 1931, just prior to the Round Table talks in London. The sandals were passed down through the officer’s family.

The 1910 Zenith pocket watch, bowl and plate came from the Mahatma’s grand niece, Abha Gandhi, who was his assistant for six years and in whose arms Gandhi died after being shot, Halpern said.

She called the auction “a truly historic sale” because Gandhi did not have many possessions and anything associated with him is of immense value. The auction house expects to fetch much more than the estimated value of 50,000 pounds for the articles. All items have letters of provenance to prove their authenticity, she said.