Rao Ram Singh I’s Elephant Gone Amok
Unknown Artist
c. 1700
Medium
gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Dimensions
20 × 41.6 cm
Classification
Drawing
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
Accession Number
2018.177
About this artwork
A royal elephant, named Nahan, according to the inscription, is attempting to free itself by breaking the chain. His ears are flexed forward, and his great mass overwhelms the five men trying to control the elephant with spears and firecrackers tied to sticks. The artist used gold in the elephant’s eye to emphasize the intensity of expression.