The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Akbar supervising the capture of wild elephants at Malwa in 1564, painting 90 from an Akbar-nama (Book of Akbar) of Abu’l Fazl (Indian 1551–1602)

c. 1602–3; borders added c. 1700s

attributed to Farukh Chela

(Indian)

or Dhanraj

(Indian)

Mughal India

ink with use of colors and gold on paper, mounted on an album page with borders of gold-decorated buff and blue paper (recto); calligraphy by Faqir Ali (verso)

Page: 37.5 x 25.4 cm (14 3/4 x 10 in.)

Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection 2013.309

Location: not on view

Did You Know?

A yak-tail flywhisk, ancient Indian symbol of sovereignty, is held up for Akbar.

Description

This painting is from a biography of Akbar made shortly before his death. It depicts a historical event from early in his reign when he encountered a herd of wild elephants and captured many of them for his royal stables. Akbar rides horseback in the upper left, directing his men as two trained elephants give chase in the foreground. The Mughals caught wild elephants by chasing them with tame elephants, then tethering them together and feeding them their favorite food. European prints had made their way into Akbar’s collection, and they provided the visual source for distant cityscapes, rolling hills, and less densely colored paintings.

before 1962
Hagop Kevorkian [1872–1962], New York, NY
December 1, 1969
(Sotheby’s, London, Highly Important Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures: The Property of Kevorkian Foundation, 1 December 1969, lot 120, sold to Ralph Benkaim)
1969-2013
Ralph Benkaim [1914-2001] and Catherine Glynn Benkaim [b. 1946], Beverly Hills, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
2013-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Mace, Sonya Rhie, Mohsen Ashtiany, Catherine Glynn, Pedro Moura Carvalho, Marcus Fraser, and Ruby Lal. Mughal Paintings: Art and Stories: the Cleveland Museum of Art. London: D Giles Limited, 2016. cat. no. 23, pp. 171-173
Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).
Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 245). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 31, 2013-June 30, 2014).
A Flower From Every Meadow. Asia House Gallery, New York, NY; Center for Asian Art and Culture, San Francisco, CA; Albright-Know Gallery of Art, Buffalo, New York, NY (1973).
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