Maharao Bhao Singh riding an elephant

Gouache with gold on paper.

In this reinterpretation of a Mughal elephant subject, Bhao Singh (r.1658-1681) sits astride a royal elephant of great size. Its keepers walk in front with a spear and charkhi (firework attachment). The pale green ground found in Mughal portraiture becomes a strong dark green, and the elephant’s colouring is sharply contrasted between dark grey and the speckled pink of its trunk, ear and belly.

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