Ankush (elephant goad)

ca. 1600 -1700

In India, elephants were the prerogative of the king, ridden in battle, on hunting expeditions, and during parades. Highly intelligent but also dangerous, elephants were kept at court, where they were trained, cared for, and driven by a mahout, a man from a family of elephant professionals, who used a tool called an ankush to command the elephant through a complex language of pokes and jabs. The ankush eventually took on the status of a royal emblem.

Steel with gilding, copper with gilding, rock crystal

32 x 8 in. (81.3 x 20.32 cm)

Gift of Mrs. John C. Atwood, Jr.

54.38

Now on view at the Asian Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing.

Published ReferencesFoong, Ping, Xiaojin Wu, and Darielle Mason. "An Asian Art Museum Transformed." Orientations vol. 51, no. 3 (May/June 2020): p. 56, reproduced fig. 15.

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