London:(PTI) A bronze statue of a seated Buddhist deity presented by Mahatma Gandhi to his Irish friend Emma Harker fetched Rs 5.47 lakh (£6,840) at a sale here on Tuesday.

The hammer price of the 13-inch-high figure, possibly of the Bodhisattva of compassion Avalokitesvara, at the Bonhams sale of Chinese and other Asian Works of Art was inclusive of buyer's premium. The estimated price of the figure was £3,000-5,000.

Emma went to India to stay with her daughter whose husband was in the civil services there. It was through that influential connection that she became close friends with senior politicians, particularly Sarojini Naidu who accompanied Gandhi in his famous Dandi salt march. A letter from Gandhi to Emma, dated September 19, 1934 suggests she volunteered to assist with relief work among the poor in flooded areas of Bihar and Orissa. It may have been on an appropriate occasion, such as this, that Gandhi presented Emma with the Buddhist figure, the auction house said.

"Emma Harker who died in 1957 knew Gandhi well, corresponding with him over a number of years, and on one occasion introduced her granddaughter, the owner of this sculpture now, to him," said Mr James Hammond, head of the Asian Art at Bonhams.