Royal Baby Elephant

The Royal Baby Elephant bronze by Paula Slater was cast in a very small limited edition.  Senator Hillary Clinton acquired one of these beautiful bronzes when she was still First Lady for her personal art collection.  This elegant bronze is 14″ tall by 15-1/2″ long.

A client commissioned this clay model replica (35% the size of the original) of a 400 year old ebony and ivory elephant previously owned by the Maharajah of Kapurthala.  Its history is long and very interesting. The elephant stood beside the throne in the Raja Palace in Kapurthala for hundreds of years.  The palace itself was built in the year 1100AD, and is a stone turreted monument to a lost time in India’s history.  During a Sepay revolution in the 1800’s the palace was invaded and the ebony elephant hacked open by rebels looking for the Maharajah’s crown jewels believed to be hidden inside (a very huge ruby once crowned its left temple).  When the Raja’s family regained control, the elephant was restored.  Many people of India believe in a mystical power contained within the ancient elephant.  This beautifully stylistic elephant was given as a gift from India to the American Ambassador to India in the early 1950’s.  My client purchased the original antique ebony elephant from a family member who had inherited it.  She wanted to share its beauty with others through a limited edition of bronzes.