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Creator:
Johan Joseph Zoffany, 1733–1810
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), Frame: 16 5/16 × 23 1/4 inches (41.5 × 59 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:
animal art | elephants (animals) | entertainment
Associated Places:
India | Lucknow
Access:
Accessible by appointment in the Study Room [Request]
Note: The Study Room is open by appointment. Please visit the Study Room page on our website for more details.
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:68706
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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)

A Decade of Gifts and Acquisitions (Yale Center for British Art, 2017-06-01 - 2017-08-13) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]


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