Elephant Trampling a Horse

Unknown

mid-17th century · Gold and opaque watercolor on marbled paper · Islamic Art

This dynamic work depicts an enraged elephant trampling upon a horse. The scene been produced with the shading techniques of nim-qalam (half pen) and the marbling technique known as kaghaz-i abri , or just abri. Here the artist has skillfully blocked off the areas of the elephant, rider, and horse, and created a vibrant marbled background, before finishing the work with fine black ink shading to create the details of the animals and mahout. Marbled paintings were produced in the Deccan in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This technique involved manipulating floating pigments on the surface of a liquid bath to form designs, which were then transferred to a sheet of paper by carefully laying it on top.

Artist

Unknown

Date

mid-17th century

Medium

Gold and opaque watercolor on marbled paper

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Howard Hodgkin Collection, Purchase, Florence and Herbert Irving Acquisitions, 2020 Benefit, and Dodge Funds; Howard S. and Nancy Marks Gift; Louis V. Bell, Harris Brisbane Dick, Fletcher, and Rogers Funds and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest; and funds from various donors, 2022