The Elephant Hunt

• The Elephant Hunt
• 'Baptizing' an elephant

NG-1985-7-2-87

inscription: ‘Wilda Elefanten blifver efter mätmingen, döpt med 3 krukor wattn, får hans namn, blir led i hans stall, sedan tages de twå tama Elefanter bort, hwardag skall han bindas emelan detama igen ledas til wattn, åter i sit stall, så blir han tam i, 8 dagar och kan en man leda twart han will.’

In addition to cinnamon, elephants were a crucial export for the Dutch. The VOC required the local population to surrender a portion of the cinnamon harvest and assist in elephant hunting. In 1785, VOC official Cornelis de Cock went to see the inland elephant hunt. The Lutheran minister Jan Brandes documented this visit in great detail.

draughtsman: Jan Brandes, Ja-Ela

1785-12

waterverf over schets in potlood, penseel in kleuren

height 195 mm x width 155 mm

purchase 1985-05-02

Public domain

See the provenance for NG-1985-7-2.

Please note that this provenance was formulated with a special focus on provenance research for the years 1933-45 and could therefore be incomplete. There may be more (mostly earlier) provenance information known in the museum. In case this item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45, the Rijksmuseum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:

https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200284320