Drawing of an Elephant (c. 1700): Art, History and Details

Drawing of an Elephant (c. 1700) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Beginning with Babur, but especially with Akbar, the Mughal emperors displayed an enormous interest in and affection for the elephants of India. The palace housed many elephants, used by the royal court for practical tasks such as carrying heavy loads through rivers and over difficult ground, for charging into battle, and, sometimes, for executing captives. They were also used for entertainment purposes such as riding, ceremonial processions, hunting, and fighting. Royal elephants were cared for by trained staff and kept on a special diet. Their tusks, necks, and ankles were often decorated with golden chains and hoops encrusted with jewels and pearls.

Object facts

• Title: Drawing of an Elephant
• Date: c. 1700
• Culture: India, Mughal School, early 18th Century
• Type: Painting
• Technique: ink on paper
• Dimensions: Image: 12.8 x 18.1 cm (5 1/16 x 7 1/8 in.); Overall: 20 x 25.3 cm (7 7/8 x 9 15/16 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1969.65

A detail from the museum

Domesticated elephants had their tusks trimmed and decorated with gold rings.

Collection credit

Edward L. Whittemore Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1969." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 57, no. 1 (1970): 2-50.
• "Art of Asia Recently Acquired by American Museums, 1969." Archives of Asian Art 24 (1970): 86-117.
• Kathman, Barbara A. A Cleveland Bestiary. Cleveland, OH; Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.