The Elephant of Maharana Jai Singh of Mewar (r. 1680–98) Catches a Horse by the Tail (c. 1680): Art, History and Details

The Elephant of Maharana Jai Singh of Mewar (r. 1680–98) Catches a Horse by the Tail (c. 1680) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The elephant driver holds his hands and the goad helplessly up in the air as the frenzied royal elephant grabs the tail of a galloping horse with its trunk. The horse rider turns around in astonishment and tries to whip the elephant’s trunk. A group of royal servants run erratically and try to contain the elephant.

Object facts

• Title: The Elephant of Maharana Jai Singh of Mewar (r. 1680–98) Catches a Horse by the Tail
• Date: c. 1680
• Culture: Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Mewar
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Page: 31.1 x 49.2 cm (12 1/4 x 19 3/8 in.); Miniature: 27 x 45.4 cm (10 5/8 x 17 7/8 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2018.137

A detail from the museum

The servant dressed in mauve jama (belted tunic) attempts to light a firecracker to frighten the elephant.

Collection credit

Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund

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.