Portrait of a Young Elephant

Currently not on view

Portrait of a Young Elephant

c. 1650-1675

Artist/maker unknown, Indian

This elephant's youth is indicated by his downy hair and small size relative to his chains and fetter. His shell-pink ear, jowl, cheek, and forehead are painted with red, probably henna, perhaps indicating that he is being prepared for his first procession. In the seventeenth century, Mughal court painters gloried in creating sensitive portraits of animals. Artists in Bikaner, located in northern Rajasthan, had closer stylistic affinities with the Imperial Mughal Workshop than any of the other Rajput courts, as this naturalistic picture of an elephant demonstrates. This delicate image is lightly colored and carefully finished. Such works-in black watercolor but for light washes and occasional highlights of color-were popular in Mughal painting, from which the idea entered the Rajput painters' vocabularies.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Portrait of a Young Elephant

Date:

c. 1650-1675

Artist:

Artist/maker unknown, Indian

Medium:

Transparent and opaque watercolor on paper

Dimensions:

Image: 6 5/16 × 8 5/16 inches (16 × 21.1 cm) Sheet: 6 9/16 × 8 1/2 inches (16.7 × 21.6 cm)

Classification:

Drawings

Credit Line:

Bequest of Dean Walker, 2006

Accession Number:

2006-53-112

Geography:

Made in Bikaner, Rajasthan, India, Asia

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Currently not on view