Lot 882
  • 882

AN ELEPHANT ON A RAMPAGE

Estimate
1,500 - 2,000 USD
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Description

  • AN ELEPHANT ON A RAMPAGE
  • Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper
  • image: 4 1/2 by 6 7/8 in. (11.4 by 17.5 cm)
  • folio: 6 1/8 by 8 3/8 in. (15.6 by 21.3 cm) unframed

Literature

Alice Heeramaneck, Masterpieces of Indian Painting, Verona, 1984, pl. 230, p. 246.

 

Condition

Fair and stable overall condition. The stains and spots on the background and associated distress to paper are clearly visible in catalog illustration. This lot is exhibited in a temporary frame.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

A caparisoned, formerly tame elephant suddenly gone berserk, wrapping his trunk around a sturdy tree.  His mahout attempting to control him with a goad, as another handler distracts the crazed animal by reaching out with swirling fireworks.  The elephant stumbling clumsily - attempting to pull the tree out by the roots.

Executed mainly in pen and ink in the nim qalam (lightly painted) manner - with areas of denser color particularly in the rendering of the green leaves of the central tree.  Against an unpainted natural-buff background - a very low horizon line indicated by an undulating blue green ground line.

Note: the folio has stains and some losses yet remains a deftly drawn observation of elephant movement and psychology.  Of quite fine quality probably dateable to the late-Seventeenth or early-Eighteenth Century, from a Provincial Mughal center probably at Bikaner or perhaps in the Deccan and likely based upon an earlier Seventeenth Century Mughal prototype.  Another very relatable, lightly colored nim-qalam drawing of a rampaging elephant, likely by the same hand, was sold at Sotheby's New York, March 21-22, 1980, Lot 489.