A painting which celebrates India's Republic Day was sold at Bonhams in the UK for 120,000 pounds.
In a sale in Modern & Contemporary Middle Eastern & South Asian Art at a packed saleroom, a keen bidding took the 86 lot sale to a final total of 1.7m with 97 per cent sold by value on Wednesday.
Lot 21, Bhupen Khakhar's (India, 1934-2003) oil on canvas titled Republic Day, was estimated to sell for a conservative 30,000-40,000 pounds.
The work was keenly contested for by a number of overseas buyers and tripled its top estimate to 120,000 pounds.
The Republic day of India commemorates the date on which the Constitution of India came into force replacing the Government of India Act 1935 as the governing document of India on the 26th January 1950.
The top lot in the sale was a stunning turquoise and gold jar painted by Iranian artist Farhad Moshiri which made �150,000 against an estimate of 40,000 to 60,000 pounds.
A second Moshiri sold for 48,000 pounds. Moshiri's work 'Eshgh' (Love) was the first work by a Middle Eastern artist to sell for over 1 million pounds at auction with Bonhams in Dubai two years ago.
Strong prices were also achieved for works of Maqbol Fida Husain (India) - 96,000 and 81,600 pounds; Nasrollah Afjehel (Iran), Mahmoud Said (Egypt), Jamil Naqsh (Pakistan), Jehangir Sabavala (India), and Sadequain (Pakistan).
Mehreen Rizvi, Head of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern and South Asian Art at Bonhams, commented after the sale: "To achieve this result with only 86 lots shows just how strong this market is.
Bonhams have been central to building this sector of the art market for a decade, so this is doubly pleasing".