AN ELEPHANT COMBAT

Christie's New York, March 20, 2012, lot 314

Some abraded areas with age-related staining and rubbing. Flattened lateral and vertical central creases with reinforced areas. The four corners and outer edges with repairs and in-filled with conservators paper. Some wrinkling. Age-related toning. Verso: Pin-hole outlines from pouncing visible. Age-related staining - with some darker stain spots. Old crease lines visible with old tape adhesions and reinforcing strips in numerous spots. Conservation framed.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Two immensely powerful elephants tangle and thunder in combat - their handlers leaping and scattering as a single mahout attempts to control one with his goad.

This composition is very close to a wall painting in the Badal Mahal ("Cloud Palace") at the Palace of Bundi and this large drawing may have been used as a modello for transfer to a wall as evidenced by its pinpricked outlines and pouncing.  

Given the loose and spontaneous nature of our drawing - with its many pentimenti and vigorous handling - it may be safe to assume that the present drawing is not just a copy of an elephant combat composition from the Badal Mahal - it is clearly pounced for transfer.  It could be that our drawing represents a working-out phase of the composition as a stage toward the completion of the wall paintings at the palace. 

An ink drawing in the Philadelphia Museum from the Alvin O. Bellak Collection (accession no. 2004-149-61) depicts a more elaborated but smaller version of the same scene as a more finished drawing.  Milo Cleveland Beach has identified an artist he has termed "The Hada Master" as the creator of the Bellak drawing and connects that drawing to a composition at the Badal Mahal.

For further discussion see M. C. Beach, 'Wall Paintings at Bundi: Comments and a New Discovery', in Artibus Asiae 68/1, 2008, M. C. Beach, 'The Masters of the Chunar Ragamala and the Hada Master,' in M. C. Beach, E. Fischer and B. N. Goswamy, Masters of Indian Painting 1100-1650, Artibus Asiae Sup. 48/I, 2011, p. 291–304, and in D. Mason (ed.), Intimate Worlds: Indian Paintings from the Alvin O. Bellak Collection, Philadelphia, 2001, p. 158–9, cat. 65.