A spectacular gem-encrusted jade and gold flask presented to Clive of India after his victory at the Battle of Plassey in 1757 has had a temporary export bar placed on it by the British government.
Experts advising ministers say there is no other object like it anywhere in the world, let alone in Britain.
Currently on loan to the V&A, the flask will go overseas unless a museum or individual can match the asking price of £6m. Also at risk of leaving the UK is Clive of India’s huqqa set, which has a bar placed on it with an asking price of £240,000.
The digital and culture minister, Matthew Hancock, said: “These treasures are not only exquisite, they provide us with a glimpse into the fascinating lifestyle and traditions of the Mughal court and the British presence in India at the time. I hope that we are able to keep these unique artefacts in the country to learn more about this extraordinary history.”
It is believed that Robert Clive, the British governor, was presented with the flask after the victory over the Nawab of Bengal at Plassey. The emerald and ruby decorated flask, about 25cm high, had been looted from the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah by the Persian monarch Nadir Shah in 1739.
Less is known about how Clive acquired the sapphire and ruby huqqa smoking set, although the likelihood is that he helped himself to it.
Smoking was widespread in India at the time and had become popular among the British living there, who often commissioned paintings of themselves reclining against brocade-covered bolsters on a terrace.
The decision to defer export licences was made on the recommendation of an expert committee, the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA).
The objects shine light on a historically important but loathed figure. The East India Company was responsible for the subjugation and plunder of vast tracts of south Asia. It was led in India by Clive, a man described by the historian William Dalrymple as “an unstable sociopath”.
When Clive returned to Britain he had amassed a personal fortune valued at £234,000, making him the richest self-made man in Europe. Not that it gave him unalloyed pleasure. He was addicted to opium, suffered bouts of depression and committed suicide aged 49.
The chairman of the RCEWA, Sir Hayden Phillips, said: “Apart from the intrinsic quality of these objects, and their outstanding importance for scholarship, the reviewing committee was unanimous in its recognition of their emblematic significance for our history and national life. Robert Clive was an outstanding and, indeed, controversial figure, but absolutely central to the creation of British rule in India.”
The flask had been on loan to the V&A for about 40 years when it and other Clive items were sold at auction by his descendants in 2004. The buyer was the Qatari Sheikh Saud bin Mohammed bin Ali al-Thani, a man considered one of the world’s biggest art buyers until his death in London in 2014.
A similar export bar was placed on the Clive items in 2004, which resulted in an application to take them overseas withdrawn. The current decision on the flask’s export licence has been deferred until May and that could be extended until November if a serious potential buyer were to come forward.
