- Title
- A Hunter Shooting a Tiger Attacking his Elephant
- Date Made
- circa late 18th century
- Medium
- Ink and opaque watercolor on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 7 3/4 x 6 1/4 in. (19.69 x 15.88 cm); Sheet: 8 3/4 x 7 1/8 in. (22.23 x 18.1 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2001.229.4
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
Hunting wild animals, particularly tigers and wild boars, was a favored pastime of the Rajput and Mughal courts. The hunt provided entertainment for the court and proved the virility of the rulers and nobles. Graphic descriptions of elephant hunts or combat and the grave danger to their mahouts (drivers) are recorded in the contemporaneous accounts of European visitors to India. Depictions of the hunt, especially those involving trained elephants, are among the most dynamic action scenes in Indian painting.
In this powerful representation, a tiger is fiercely clawing and biting an elephant that has grabbed the tiger with its trunk and lifted it off the ground. The driver is striking the tiger with a sword while protecting himself with a shield. A second rider, holding onto the elephant by hooking his feet under the harness ropes, fires a rifle at the enraged beast. He wears a powder primer flask and a flint pouch suspended from his waist sash. Interestingly, the artist has altered the composition in a few areas by whiting out some minor elements and redrawing them.
See also M.79.252.9, M.85.297.3, and M.87.276.1.
