Enraged Elephant during Training
This brush drawing captures the power and danger of a bull elephant stampeding in rage. Shown wide-eyed and furious during mast, or rut (a period of heightened sexual activity), the animal is being trained with firecrackers to withstand the din and fury of battle. The panicked and enraged elephant has broken his chains except for the one that secures his back leg, which is strained to the limit as the keeper (mahout) struggles to control the animal by pulling on his goad (ankus), but to no avail. Footmen (at right) thrust firecrackers—here a fiery Catherine wheel (charhka)—on spears from behind. The dense tonal shading and dramatic orange-red and green highlights distinguish this as an exceptional work of its genre. The chains, painted in silver, have now oxidized to a dark gray.
Artwork Details
- Title: Enraged Elephant during Training
- Date: ca. 1690
- Culture: India, Rajasthan, Kota
- Medium: Opaque watercolor, ink and silver on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 9 1/4 × 15 in. (23.5 × 38.1 cm)
Framed: 14 3/4 × 20 3/8 × 3/4 in. (37.5 × 51.8 × 1.9 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Howard Hodgkin Collection, Purchase, Gift of Florence and Herbert Irving, by exchange, 2022
- Object Number: 2022.212
- Rights and Reproduction: Image © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Stipple Master
Jai Ram
ca. 1712
India (Rajasthan, Bikaner)
ca. 1725
India (Madhya Pradesh, Malwa)
ca. 1630–40
India (Rajasthan, Kishangarh)
ca. 1735
India (Madhya Pradesh, Malwa)
ca. 1650
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.