The elephant Khanderao Bahadur killing Sham Mahavat

Object Details

• School/Tradition

  Mewar school

• Description

  Numerous attendants using firecrackers attempt to control a chained elephant. His mahout grips the elephant with his feet and hands as his hair sticks out in fright.

• Inscriptions

  Recto: in devanagari script on top red border: Maharana Amar Singhji ri divar ke Khanderao Bahadur marti Sham Mahavati

  Verso: n. 9; 243 jo (album 243); Kimat val. -Rs. 12; Mewar inventory no: 13/243; 240/32?

  Verso: n. 9; 243 jo (album 243); Kimat val. -Rs. 12; Mewar inventory no: 13/243; 240/32?

• Provenance

  From 1700?

  Royal Udaipur Collection

  To 1967

  Sri Moti Chand Khajanchi, Bikaner [1]

  From 1967 to 2001

  Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001), Beverly Hills, California, purchased from Sri Moti Chand Khajanchi, Bikaner in December 1967 [2]

  From 2001 to 2018

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Beverly Hills, California, by inheritance from Ralph Benkaim in 2001 [3]

  From 2018

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, partial gift and purchase from Catherine Glynn Benkaim

  [1] Ralph Benkaim purchased the painting from Mr. Khajanchi of Bikaner in December 1967, several years before Indian paintings were classified as antiquities by the Indian government, according to Ralph Benkaim’s personal records, as relayed by Catherine Glynn Benkaim.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] See note 1.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Sri Moti Chand Khajanchi

  Ralph (1914-2001) and Catherine Benkaim

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim

• Origin

  Mewar, Rajasthan state, India

• Credit Line

  Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection — funds provided by the Friends of the Freer and Sackler Galleries

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1690s

• Name

  Benkaim, Ralph and Catherine, Benkaim, Catherine Glynn, Khajanchi, Moti Chand

• Place

  Rajasthan state, Mewar, India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Animals, Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection, Mahout, Elephants, Fireworks

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Tax Class

  Mammalia

• Tax Order

  Proboscidea

• Tax Family

  Elephantidae

• Tax Phylum

  Chordata

• Common Name

  Elephants

• Object Type

  Paintings

• Tax Kingdom

  Animalia