Provenance:
Sotheby's, New York, March 21, 1990, no. 76
Christie's, New York, September 16, 2008, no. 455
With bold curvilinear outlines and deft wispy shading, the artist captures the vigor of this prized elephant. The colossal animal's tusks are trimmed and capped with gold bands, and its face and ears are adorned with red and orange pigments. A few clusters of green grass have been tied and laid out for him.
The artist of this painting was likely inspired by a mid-17th century unnamed Kotah painter referred to by scholars as the “Master of Elephants,” who is known for his analytical and dynamic approach to elephant paintings. In particular, the energetic, swirling lines appearing around the eyes, mouth, and ear of the elephant are redolent of his style (see Andrew Topsfield, Visions of Mughal India, The Collection of Howard Hodgkin, 2012, p.196, and Stuart Cary Welch (ed.), Gods, Kings, and Tigers, The Art of Kotah, 1997, pp.19-23).
An inscription on the verso, “37 hathi,” means this is the thirty-seventh elephant in a series of such drawings. For a similar drawing of the same school, see Toby Falk, Elephants of Fame and other Animals in Indian Painting, London, 1987, no. 7.