Enraged elephant attacking a horse

Brush drawing with colour and gold on marbled paper.

In this virtuoso combination of drawing and resist-marbling, the enraged elephant, its mahout and the stricken stallion are dramatically silhouetted within a vibrant field of marbling patterns. The art of marbling flourished in Central Asia, Iran and Turkey, and became a speciality of the Bijapur court in the second quarter of the 17th century.

To view a high-resolution version of this image and for further information please visit the Yousef Jameel Online Centre at the Ashmolean.