Princess on an Elephant-Zoomorohic Painting (# 2544/1)
Opaque watercolor on paper
Persian School 
Late 19th –Early 20th century
16.5 cm x 28.5 cm / 6.5” X 11.25”

DESCRIPTION:
A manuscript painting of a princess riding in a howdah on a composite elephant in a rather bleak landscape being attended by raja on horseback. The elephant is composed of numerous animals and one integrated person. The elephant is richly caparison and carries anklets on the front legs and neck band. The intended meaning of composite pictures in Indian and Persian art remains obscure. Some of the antecedents of the practice may be back to China in the pre-classical period, whereas this picture may be generally interpreted as an expression of the philosophical concept of all creatures and things being made of smaller elements. In the Islamic context they seem to have a more specifically Sufi attraction based on the Sufi idea of multiplicity and unity. In this example, the religious building in the background adds an extra and tantalizing element.