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Royal Elephant Ramkali with a Mahout
c. 1761
- Medium
- gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Painting: 20.6 x 21.4 cm (8 1/8 x 8 7/16 in.); Overall: 24.1 x 25 cm (9 1/2 x 9 13/16 in.)
- Culture
- Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput kingdom of Mewar, Udaipur, Court of Ari Singh (reigned 1761-73)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Credit line
- Gift of Dr. Norman Zaworski
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
The mahout (elephant driver), directs the confident female elephant at a brisk trot, with bells swinging in response to her movements. This painting belongs to a series depicting the elephants in the royal stables at Udaipur, each one named in the upper margin. Elephants have been a potent emblem for royalty in India for more than three thousand years.
