Elephant ridden by three figures

Unknown

Item type:

sculpture

Date of creation:

second half, 19th century

Height:

30.6 cm  (12 1/16 in.)

Width:

37.7 cm  (14 13/16 in.)

Depth:

19.3 cm  (7 5/8 in.)

without base: 26.1 x 243 x 10.3 cm (10 1/4 x 95 11/16 x 4 1/16 in.)

Technique / Medium:

hard-paste porcelain; gilt-bronze mounts

Description

Text from museum website:
The walking elephant carries three figures on his back. Seated on his neck is a robed female holding a censer with both hands. The cover is formed of a robed male with his arms folded across his chest sitting cross-legged on a tasseled cushion. The inner rim of the cover fits into the howdah that rests on a saddlecloth on the elephant's back. At the rear, a robed female sitting cross-legged plays the lute. A celadon glaze covers the elephant and the figures. Gilt-bronze pendants hang in front of the elephant's ears, and his four feet fit snugly into four shallow recesses in the gilt-bronze base. The base is composed of C-scrolls, rockwork, vegetal forms, and two applied lizardlike creates at front and back. Possibly French (Paris) (?)

Iconclass

48C2
sculpture
25F25(ELEPHANT)
trunked animals: elephant
46C132
riding on animal other than horse, ass, or mule

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Lute [3394]

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

RIdIM record id

5962