Johan Joseph Zoffany, 1733–1810, German, active in Britain (from 1760)
Title:
Elephants Fighting
Date:
between 1784 and 1788
Materials & Techniques:
Black, white and red chalk on medium, slightly textured, blue laid paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 9 1/16 × 16 5/16 inches (23 × 41.5 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B2014.13
Classification:
Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
elephants (animals) | animal art | entertainment
Associated Places:
India | Lucknow
Currently On View:
Not on view
Exhibition History:
A Decade of Gifts and Acquisitions (Yale Center for British Art, 2017-06-01 - 2017-08-13)
Gallery Label:
Johan Zoffany made this striking drawing, which was rediscovered in 2013, during his extended stay in India between 1783 and 1788. Only a small number of the numerous drawings he made in India are known to survive, including two fine examples already in the Center’s collection. The drawing depicts a combat between two elephants and was probably made in Lucknow, a city Zoffany found particularly congenial, and which he visited three times. At the court of Asaf-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Awadh, such lavish spectacles, which were a source of both fascination and repugnance for European visitors, were a frequent occurrence and were typically organized for ceremonial and diplomatic purposes. Gallery label for A Decade of Gifts and Acquisitions (Yale Center for British Art, 2017-06-01 - 2017-08-13)