Painting, youth on composite elephant, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Deccan, ca. 1580

Painting, in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, a youth holding an elephant goad, sitting in a golden howdah on the back of an elephant composed of various creatures and figures.

A youth holding an elephant goad, sitting in a golden howdah on the back of an elephant composed of various creatures.

The basic style of this painting is the simplified type of Qazwin painting known to have been current in Khurasan at about 1570 to 1580. It is evidently the work of a Khurasani artist, but there are certain features which suggest that he was working in the Deccan and in process of adapting his style to the Indian manner. The fluttering scarf ends, robust treatment of the torso, and slightly projecting left eye suggest that this is Deccani work. This treatment of eye and torso feature in the Paris portrait of Burhan Nizam Shah. Nevertheless, it appears the artist had not worked for very long in India since he has not properly understood the form of the katar at the waist, and the elephant is more in the Persian tradition. The subject of composite beasts is more common in Indian than Persian art (register description, 1960).

IS.224-1960