Battling Water Buffaloes, Mughal, 18th century

European private collection.

Hosain Gallery, London. 

New York private collection, acquired before 1988.

A moment of dramatic combat is depicted as two large water buffaloes clash and lock horns - their determination is palpable in this naturalistic study. The flanks of the two combatants raised to provide maximum momentum for their charging heads - with ringed horns emerging from their curling hair.  The two bulls shown standing on a green verdigris ground, the figures silhouetted in warm browns against a luminous buff background. We can feel the crushing weight of the animals and the exertion of their combat. We can almost hear them thunder and snort.

A closely related subject now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc. no. 1983.258) can be found in an earlier, colored ink drawing in the nim qalam (partly painted) style depicting two buffaloes in combat, attributed to the Akbar-period Mughal artist Miskin (active 1570 -1604). In that celebrated work the battle unfolds in the presence of excited handlers. Contrastingly in tht present painting, the two animals are depicted alone in the composition - giving the scene an elemental and timeless quality.

 Another closely related Mughal example to Miskin's, depicting two bulls fighting surrounded by handlers, is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (accession number: D.400 -1885) dated to the 17th century. Another related (Rajasthani) example depicting water buffaloes fighting, surrounded by handlers and clearly in eighteenth century Bundi style, is in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam (accession number: RP-T-1993-132).

The present painting is a slightly different composition which has been based upon Miskin's - but without the attending handlers. The bulls are seen together silhouetted alone against a buff background. Was this a staged combat for the Mughal Emperor's entertainment?  Or a clash that was observed in the wild - an epic battle for supremacy in the herd. In our version the context for this epic battle is left open to the imagination.