Elephant with howdah

Charcoal on paper.

A caparisoned elephant is shown with a diminutive mahout, and a saddle-cloth and howdah in which a royal person would ride. This charcoal sketch may have been drawn simply as an exercise, or as a preliminary under-drawing whose outlines would later have been carefully painted over in black. Surviving Indian drawings in charcoal are quite rare.

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