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Elephant Fight

Attributed to the Kota Master Indian
ca. 1655–60
Not on view
Court life in Rajasthan regularly featured elephant fights as entertainments to mark festivals and royal birthdays. They also served to keep the royal herd exercised and trained in readiness for warfare. This genre of elephant study, which was at its height in the mid-seventeenth century, was dominated by artists from the royal households of Kota and neighboring Bundi. In this highly finished tour de force brush drawing, we see two mighty animals from the royal stables locked in combat, their heads butting and their massive bodies straining to prevail. Fine brushed line work, with a minimum of tonal rendering, and colored highlights add to a heightened sense of drama. The large scale indicates that the study was intended to serve as a template for a mural.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Elephant Fight
  • Artist: Attributed to the Kota Master (Indian, active early 18th century)
  • Date: ca. 1655–60
  • Culture: India, Rajasthan, Kota
  • Medium: Opaque watercolor, ink and gold on paper
  • Dimensions: Image: 13 7/16 × 27 3/16 in. (34.2 × 69 cm)
    Framed: 19 1/8 × 32 7/8 × 1 1/8 in. (48.5 × 83.5 × 2.9 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Howard Hodgkin Collection, Purchase, Gift of Florence and Herbert Irving, by exchange, 2022
  • Object Number: 2022.210
  • Rights and Reproduction: Image © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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Maharao Madho Singh Hunting Wild Boar, the Kota Master Indian, Opaque watercolor, gold and tin on gold paper, India, Rajasthan, Kota
Maharao Madho Singh Hunting Wild Boar
the Kota Master
ca. 1720
Rao Surjan's Favorite Elephants, Bhalarao and Anipa Inscribed: "The elephants belonging to Rao Surjan, elephants Bhalarao and Anipa"., the Kota Master Indian, Ink and opaque watercolor on paper, India (Kota, Rajasthan)
Returned to lender

Rao Surjan's Favorite Elephants, Bhalarao and Anipa
Inscribed: "The elephants belonging to Rao Surjan, elephants Bhalarao and Anipa".

the Kota Master
ca. 1720
Study for Rao Ram Singh I Hunting Rhinoceros on an Elephant, the Kota Master Indian, Ink with touches of color over charcoal underdrawing on paper, Western India, Rajasthan, Kota
Returned to lender
Study for Rao Ram Singh I Hunting Rhinoceros on an Elephant
the Kota Master
ca. 1690–1700
Radha and Krishna Walk in a Flowering Grove (recto); Krishna Fluting (verso), the Kota Master Indian, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper, India (Rajasthan, Kota)

Radha and Krishna Walk in a Flowering Grove (recto); Krishna Fluting (verso)

the Kota Master
ca. 1720 (recto); ca. 1750–75 (verso)
Maharana Sangram Singh Riding a Prize Stallion, Stipple Master Indian, Ink, opaque watercolor, gold, and Basra pearls on paper, India (Rajasthan, Mewar)
Maharana Sangram Singh Riding a Prize Stallion
Stipple Master
Jai Ram
ca. 1712

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