Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

Lot 1217

A ROYAL ELEPHANT AND HIS MAHOUT
ISARDA OR SAWAR, CIRCA 1700-20

23 September 2021, 10:00 EDT
New York

US$20,000 - US$30,000

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

A ROYAL ELEPHANT AND HIS MAHOUT

ISARDA OR SAWAR, CIRCA 1700-20
Pen, ink, gouache, and gold on paper, with black and red margin.
12 3/8 x 17 in. (31.4 x 43.18 cm)

Footnotes

Due to their tremendous importance to Indian rulers, elephants are celebrated subjects in Mughal and Rajput paintings of the 17th and 18th centuries. Not only were they traditional symbols of kingship, but they also played a crucial role during battles, and were the preferred royal mounts in state processions or on tiger hunts. As observed by Akbar's court historian Abu'l Fazl, "This wonderful animal is in bulk and strength like a mountain; and in courage and ferocity like a lion. It adds materially to the pomp of a king and to the success of a conqueror; and is of the greatest value for the army. Experienced men of Hindustan put the value of a good elephant equal to five hundred horses" (Abu'l Fazl, Ain-I Akbari, Vol. I, tr. H. Blochmann, 1965, pp.123-4).

This excellent example was no doubt created by an artist who thoroughly understood the elephant's nature and anatomical form. The animal's immense volume and baggy skin are accurately represented through dense and confident lines. In comparison, the mahout appears unrealistically diminutive. The practice of magnifying the elephant's stature in relation to its rider followed a late 17th-century Mughal convention (see Topsfield, Visions of Mughal India, pp.70-3, nos.24-5).

The floral motif appearing on the mahout's yellow jama is a distinctive feature shared by a group of inscribed portraits painted at Isarda, confirming the origin of the present work (for a detailed discussion of this Isarda group, see Pasricha, "Painting at Sawar and Isarda", in Oriental Art, Autumn 1982, pp.257-69). Compare to a closely related painting of an elephant with a sleeping mahout published in ibid., p.267, fig.13. Also see Arthur Tooth & Sons, Indian Paintings from the 17th to 19th Centuries, 1975, no.19.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

TÊTE DE BODHISATTVA EN STUC Ancienne région du Gandhara, IIIe-Ve siècle

TÊTE DE BOUDDHA EN SCHISTE Ancienne région du Gandhara, IVe siècle

STATUE DE BOUDDHA EN SCHISTE GRIS Ancienne région du Gandhara, II-IIIe siècle

TÊTE DE BOUDDHA EN STUC Ancienne région du Gandhara, IVe-Ve siècle

PANNEAU EN RELIEF EN SCHISTE GRIS REPRÉSENTANT POSSIBLEMENT LA GRANDE RENONCIATION OU L'INTERPRÉTATION DU RÊVE DE MAYA AU ROI SUDDHODANA Ancienne région du Gandhara, IIe-IIIe siècle

STATUETTE DE DIVINITÉ FÉMININE DEBOUT EN TERRE CUITE Inde, Période Maurya-Sunga, IIe-Ier siècle avant J.C.

STÈLE DE FIGURE DEBOUT TENANT UN ARC ET DES FLÈCHES EN GRÈS ROUGE Inde centrale, Madhya Pradesh, Style Khajuraho, XIe siècle

IMPORTANTE STATUE DE DÉESSE EN BRONZE Inde, Tamil Nadu, époque Vijayanagara, XVI siècle

SANCTUAIRE DE SURYA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE Inde, Bengale, époque Pala, Xe siècle

STÈLE DE VISHNU EN PIERRE NOIRE Inde occidentale, Rajasthan ou Gujarat, ca. XIIe-XIIIe siècle

STÈLE EN PIERRE NOIRE REPRÉSENTANT DURGA TUANT LE DÉMON MAHISHA Bangladesh, XIe-XIIe siècle

STATUETTE DE DURGA MAHISHASURAMARDINI EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE AVEC TRACES DE POLYCHROMIE Inde, province d'Assam, XVIIe siècle

POIGNARD EN ACIER DAMASQUINÉ D'OR, KATAR DJAMADHAR Inde, moghole, Rajasthan, XIXe siècle

CLOCHE RITUELLE EN BRONZE Indonésie, Java, XIe siècle

RELIQUAIRE EN BRONZE Thaïlande, Sukhothai, XIVe-XVe siècle

BUSTE DE BOUDDHA COURONNÉ EN TERRE CUITE Thaïlande, Haripunjaya, XIIIe siècle

GRANDE CLOCHE DE TEMPLE EN BRONZE Datée de 1206 de l'ère birmane, ou 1844

ÉPÉE À POIGNÉE EN ARGENT NIELLO, DHA, ET SON FOURREAU Birmanie, XIXe siècle

STUPA EN ARGENT Thaïlande, époque Ayutthaya, XVIIe siècle

TÊTE DE BOUDDHA EN BRONZE Thaïlande, époque Ayutthaya, XVe-XVIe siècle

STATUETTE DE BOUDDHA MARAVIJAYA COURONNÉ EN BRONZE Nord de la Thaïlande, époque Lan Na, XVIe siècle

STATUE DE BOUDHA EN BRONZE DORÉ Thaïlande, Bangkok, XIXe siècle

STATUE DE VISHNU CHEVALANT GARUDA EN BOIS SCULPTÉ Thaïlande, XIXe siècle

STATUETTE DE MANJUSHRI AVEC SHAKTI EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE DORÉ Népal, XVIIe siècle