H x W (painting): 21.3 × 34.2 cm (8 3/8 × 13 7/16 in)
H x W (overall): 25.4 × 38.1 cm (10 × 15 in)
Type:
Painting
Origin:
Mewar, Rajasthan state, India
Date:
ca. 1700
School/Tradition:
Mewar school
Description:
Numerous attendants using firecrackers attempt to control a chained elephant. His mahout grips the elephant with his feet and hands as his hair sticks out in fright.
Inscriptions:
Recto: in devanagari script on top red border: Maharana Amar Singhji ri divar ke Khanderao Bahadur marti Sham Mahavati
Verso: n. 9; 243 jo (album 243); Kimat val. -Rs. 12; Mewar inventory no: 13/243; 240/32?
Verso: n. 9; 243 jo (album 243); Kimat val. -Rs. 12; Mewar inventory no: 13/243; 240/32?
Provenance:
From 1700?
Royal Udaipur Collection
To 1967
Sri Moti Chand Khajanchi, Bikaner [1]
From 1967 to 2001
Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001), Beverly Hills, California, purchased from Sri Moti Chand Khajanchi, Bikaner in December 1967 [2]
From 2001 to 2018
Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Beverly Hills, California, by inheritance from Ralph Benkaim in 2001 [3]
From 2018
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, partial gift and purchase from Catherine Glynn Benkaim
[1] Ralph Benkaim purchased the painting from Mr. Khajanchi of Bikaner in December 1967, several years before Indian paintings were classified as antiquities by the Indian government, according to Ralph Benkaim’s personal records, as relayed by Catherine Glynn Benkaim.