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The Nawab of Avadh's hunting cheetahs and their caretakers
The Nawab of Avadh's hunting cheetahs and their caretakers

The Nawab of Avadh's hunting cheetahs and their caretakers

Artist (British, 1797 - 1869)
Printer (British, 1819 - 1908)
Publisher (British)
Date1844
CultureSikh
MaterialsChromolithograph, hand painted on paper with printed commentary text on the reverse
DimensionsH. 22 in x W. 17 1/2 in, H. 55.9 cm x W. 44.4 cm
Credit LineGift of the Kapany Collection
Object number1998.63.15
DepartmentSouth Asian Art
ClassificationsPrints And Drawings
On View
Not on view
InscribedPrint Sellers by Special Appointment to Her Majesty and H.R.H. the Duchess of Kent
More Information
In the description on the reverse side of this print, Emily Eden identified as leopards the two animals she portrayed. In fact,
they were cheetahs, animals that had long been trained for use in royal hunts. According to Eden, the ruler (nawab) of Avadh had sent these cheetahs and their attendants to accompany her brother, Lord Auckland, then the Governor-General of India, on a procession.
As the use of the rifle in South Asia became increasingly popular in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these once-prized hunting animals themselves became the object of hunts; in fact, they were hunted to extinction in this region. In 1947 the last three cheetahs in India were shot by a maharaja.
Subject
  • hunting
  • leopard