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Lot Essay
This is one of several depictions of this dramatic event of June 1633, the most famous of which is folio 134v from the Padshahnama (RCIN 1005025.ad). The Emperor Shah Jahan watches as his son the Prince Aurangzeb bravely repels the maddened elephant Sudhakar which had run amok during an elephant fight.
Aside from the Padshahnama illustration, a drawing of the scene was sold at Sotheby's London 11 April 1988, lot 16. Unlike the painting in the Padshahnama in which Aurangzeb charges into the elephant head-on, here Aurangzeb's horse is rearing up with the Prince twisting around to spear the onrushing elephant. This closely relates to a number of similarly composed and partially coloured drawings from the Collection of the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS 053.007) and one in the Howard Hodgkin Indian Collection Trust (L.2022.31.10). Another painting of the same subject, in a square composition, is in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (PD.46-1949). Amongst this group, the present lot is notable for the inclusion of the extended description of the scene in nasta'liq above the elephant.
Aside from the Padshahnama illustration, a drawing of the scene was sold at Sotheby's London 11 April 1988, lot 16. Unlike the painting in the Padshahnama in which Aurangzeb charges into the elephant head-on, here Aurangzeb's horse is rearing up with the Prince twisting around to spear the onrushing elephant. This closely relates to a number of similarly composed and partially coloured drawings from the Collection of the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS 053.007) and one in the Howard Hodgkin Indian Collection Trust (L.2022.31.10). Another painting of the same subject, in a square composition, is in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (PD.46-1949). Amongst this group, the present lot is notable for the inclusion of the extended description of the scene in nasta'liq above the elephant.