A ROYAL ELEPHANT AND HIS MAHOUT

ISARDA OR SAWAR, CIRCA 1700-20

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)

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.