| Description | Much to the dismay of his courtiers, a prince closely resembling the first Mughal emperor Babur (r.1525-1530), tries riding a merry-looking royal elephant using a gold-studded goad (ankush). The delicately executed brushwork of the individual faces, the elephant, and the pastel hues of the composition suggest that skilled hands made this piece. It is a superb example of the mixed style of emigrant Iranian painters working in India during the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556-1605). They collaborated with local painters in the breakaway studio of Akbar’s son Salim, the future emperor Jahangir (r.1605-1627). Collected by Robert Blair Munro Binning. |
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