Harvard Art Museums > 1972.349: Tribal People Hunting Black Buck at Night Paintings Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Tribal People Hunting Black Buck at Night , 1972.349,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Dec 18, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/215328. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 1972.349 Title Tribal People Hunting Black Buck at Night Classification Paintings Work Type painting Date late 18th century Places Creation Place: South Asia, India, Uttar Pradesh, Faizabad Period Mughal period Culture Indian Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/215328 Physical Descriptions Medium Opaque watercolor and gold on paper Dimensions 31.75 x 22.7 cm (12 1/2 x 8 15/16 in.) Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of John Kenneth Galbraith Accession Year 1972 Object Number 1972.349 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description On a night graced by a full moon, three Bhil hunters, two women and one man, approach a herd of entranced deer. The painting displays one of the many forms of hunting described by Abul Fazl, the court historian of Mughal emperor Akbar and author of the Âîn-i Akbarî. The ghantabhera hunt employed trackers from the Bhil tribe who carried shields or baskets with the concave sides away from them. A lamp in the concavity of the shield or basket created a reflected beam of light while also concealing the bearer. In this scene, a female tracker also rings a small bell. The sound of the bell and the light of the lamps attracts the animals toward the hunters; as Abul Fazl describes, "Sometimes hunters will charm them with a song, and when the deer approach will rise up and cruelly slay them." This painting comes from the provincial Mughal school at Faizabad, a center known for producing many versions of this subject. A red sandstone fortress rises in the distance, drawing attention to the division between the ordered urban space of the Mughal empire and the rugged wilderness of the tribal people who lived at its fringes. (label text from Sport of Kings exhibition January 2005). Publication History Stuart Cary Welch and Milo Cleveland Beach, Gods, Thrones, and Peacocks Northern Indian Painting from Two Traditions, exh. cat., Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (New York, NY, 1965), page 97/figure 64 Exhibition History Ambassador's Choice: The Galbraith Collection of Indian Painting, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 02/15/1986 - 04/06/1986 Gods, Thrones, and Peacocks - Revisited: Northern Indian Miniatures from two Traditions, Fifteenth to Nineteenth Centuries, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 03/31/1990 - 06/10/1990 From India's Hills and Plains: Rajput Painting from the Punjab and Rajasthan, 17th through 19th Centuries, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/04/1993 - 10/31/1993 Rasika, the Discerning Connoisseur: Indian Paintings from the John Kenneth Galbraith Collection, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/31/1998 - 04/05/1998 The Sport of Kings: Art of the Hunt in Iran and India, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/22/2005 - 06/26/2005 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
