114 IVORY AND THE ELEPHANT 



range of prices according to the size of the pieces and the 

 elasticity and tint of the material, from 2 rupees to 20 rupees 

 being paid for a seer, that is from about 16 cents to $1.60 a 

 pound.* 



The art of miniature painting on ivory is cultivated to a 

 certain extent in India, principally by Delhi artists who are 

 Mohammedans and claim Persian descent. They usually 

 take up their residence in Bombay or Calcutta and get from 

 10 rupees to 100 rupees for a miniature painting. The devel- 

 opment of the art in Delhi is traced to the fondness of the 

 Mohammedan rulers for illuminated Persian manuscripts, 

 these serving as patterns or inspiration for the ivory painters. 

 Thus we have portraits of emperors and empresses, as well 

 as of famous court beauties, and views of the Taj Mahal 

 at Agra and of the Juma Mosque at Delhi. More realistic 

 inspiration is drawn from modern photographs which are 

 copied in colours. Much of the work is of a purely decora- 

 tive character, the miniatures being set in ebony caskets, for 

 example; some are given a jewelled mounting to be worn as 

 ornaments. Water colours are exclusively employed. Mr. 

 Kipling considers that the use of photographic models has 

 served to raise the standard of these Indian miniaturists, in 

 that it has freed them from the stiff, conventional lines per- 

 petuated by tradition, and has measurably brought them 

 back to nature; this is especially notable in the treatment of 

 landscape themes. The Delhi artists are reproached with 

 an undue attention to mere delicacy of execution, their 

 favourite phrase, ek hot qalmy "a brush of a single hair," 

 indicating this.f 



A noted Indian master in the art of miniature painting on 

 ivory is Ismail Khan, who executed work for the late Queen 



*L. M. Stubbs, in the Journal of Indian Art and Industry, Vol. IX, No. 75, pp. 41-44; 

 July, 1901. 



tT. N. Mukharji, "Art Manufactures of India," Calcutta, 1888, p. 22. 



