NORTH INDIA, 17TH CENTURY

In his recent work on Indian metalwork, Mark Zebrowski devotes one chapter to various bronze and brass birds and animals (Zebrowski, M.: Gold, Silver and Bronze from Mughal India, London, 1997, pp.94-109). Since we associate the elephant so clearly with India, and it is such a popular subject in miniature paintings of the period, it is strange that there are not more three dimensional versions, such as the present example; Zebrowski only shows two elephant terminals worked in low relief. Our sculpture shows the elephant in the act of rising from a recumbent position, a remarkably intimate depiction when compared to most of those seen in miniatures of the period. A number of paintings in the collection of Howard Hodgkin depict elephants; a survey of these shows that with one exception eating from a tree, they are either standing almost heraldically for their portraits, or actively demonstrating their strength by hunting or fighting (Topsfield, Andrew, and Beach, Milo Cleveland: Indian Paintings and drawings from the collection of Howard Hodgkin, London, 1991).

All the animals in Zebrowski's book were created for a function. In some cases they were intended as finials on larger structures, but much more often as self-contained functional objects. This calls into question the use of our sculpture. The shape of the base is certainly most unusual and brings to mind the shapes of cartouches seen in manuscript illumination, in architectural decoration, and in the borders of carpets. This last point could well be a helpful indication; its solidity would make it very suitable for use as a carpet weight.