A PRINCESS ON A CAMEL - ZOOMORPHIC (2544/2)                                                                   

 Opaque Watercolor on Paper

Persian School

Late 18th 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 camel in a rather bleak landscape being attended by raja on horseback. The camel is composed of numerous animals and integrated persons. The camel 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 are cited by Welch* where he traces the practice 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.*

REFERENCE

*Welch,Stuart Cary; Indian Drawings and Painted Sketches,16^th through 19^th Centuries;  Exhibition catalog, Asia House Gallery, NewYork,1976