Raja Dhiraj Singh of Raghogarh watching an elephant attacked by a leopard

Raghogarh was an outlying court on the Rajasthan/Madya Pradesh border south of Bundi and Kota. It had painting studios from the late 17th century onwards. Their paintings usually had a flat background made with a wash of plain colour. Often servants are depicted disproportionately small.

The Raja and his attendant, each holding a lotus blossom, are standing under a canopy. Their robes and turbans indicate Raghogarh court style. The white robed mahout tries to control the lively state elephant as a leopard attacks it. The mahout, elephant and leopard are shown on a small scale. The devanagiri script gives the names of the two men.

Description taken from the ‘Art From The Indian Sub-Continent In The Sainsbury Centre’ catalogue by Margaret A. Willey (Sainsbury Centre, UEA, 1995).