Elephant with Howdah
Not on view
This preparatory drawing bears witness to the process of picture making in traditional Indian painting. It was customary for painters first to sketch out a composition in charcoal and then to paint the design in fine line brushwork. Whatever charcoal remained would often then be carefully erased. The composition was overpainted to achieve the finished work. Given that they were preparatory, few such charcoal underdrawings are preserved. This rare example depicts a striding, caparisoned elephant with its keeper (mahout) and a howdah (litter) secured on a saddlecloth along with strands of bells. Within the howdah is a hookah, placed in readiness for a royal personage who is not depicted. The rendering of the elephant’s head is particularly sensitive, revealing a strong empathy on the part of the artist for his subject.
