A catalogue of the Ashmolean’s collection of Indian art by J. C. Harle and Andrew Topsfield (published Oxford, 1987).
Found in northern parts of the subcontinent, the sarus crane is India’s largest bird, the males sometimes measuring two metres high. Usually living in pairs, these cranes became proverbial in folklore for their conjugal fidelity. The emperor Jahangir (1605-1627) kept a pair, which he named after the legendary lovers Laila and Majnun. Shaikh Zain ud-Din’s half life-size depiction of this bird is still almost too large for the outsize sheet of English paper. While retaining the format and plain ground of a scientific study, it shows great assurance and sensitivity in its elegantly flowing outline and finely painted plumage.
Harle, J. C., and Andrew Topsfield, Indian Art in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1987), no. 94 on pp. 83-84, pl. 20 (colour) & p. 84
Topsfield, Andrew, Indian Paintings from Oxford Collections, Ashmolean Handbooks (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum in association with the Bodleian Library, 1994), no. 38 on p. 78, p. 7, illus. p. 79
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
Object information may not accurately reflect the actual contents of the original publication, since our online objects contain current information held in our collections database. Click on 'buy this publication' to purchase printed versions of our online publications, where available, or contact the Jameel Study Centre to arrange access to books on our collections that are now out of print.
© 2013 University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum