Page 104 - Bonhams Himalayan, Indian Art march 2015

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The liberation of Gajendra
Bikaner, circa 1625
Opaque watercolor, ink, gold, and silver on paper; Krishna and Garuda fly to the rescue of
Gajendra as the great elephant is attacked by a mythical crocodile, makara.
Image: 9 1/4 x 7 1/8 in. (23.5 x 18.7 cm); Folio: 12 7/8 x 10 in. (32.7 x 25.4 cm)
$25,000 - 35,000
Gajendra was caught in the grip of a makara for 1,000 years. In discussion of this painting,
Topsfield notes, ‘Gajendramoksha became a popular theme of Vaishnava devotee literature,
the elephant’s plight symbolizing the inexorable entrapment of the human soul by worldly
illusion, from which the invocation of Vishnu brings release.’
A later elephant hunt with Maharaja Anup Singh of Bikaner, circa 1695, held in the Cincinnati
Art Museum (1979.129) shows a similar palette and treatment of the elephants. Also compare
with the dynamic composition of Demons Fighting Over the Animal Limb in the Metropolitan
Museum of Art (1989.236.3).
Published and Exhibited
Andrew Topsfield, ed., In the Realm of Gods and Kings: Art of India - Selections from the
Polsky Collections and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Asia Society and Museum, New York,
2004 p. 117, no. 43.
Provenance
Cynthia Hazen Polsky Collection since 1996

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