id: 146198 accession number: 1971.88 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1971.88 updated: 2023-01-23 22:38:18.023000 Grotesque Dancers Performing, c. 1600. Mughal India. Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper; image: 16 x 9 cm (6 5/16 x 3 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1971.88 title: Grotesque Dancers Performing title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1600 creation date earliest: 1595 creation date latest: 1605 current location: creditline: Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund copyright: --- culture: Mughal India technique: gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art collection: Indian Art type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Image: 16 x 9 cm (6 5/16 x 3 9/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Unrelated later Persian text on recto translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Dance of the Gods: Indian Art Inspired by Music opening date: 1996-09-24T04:00:00 Dance of the Gods: Indian Art Inspired by Music. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-December 8, 1996). title: Dancing to the Flute: Music and Dance in Indian Art opening date: 1997-06-12T00:00:00 Dancing to the Flute: Music and Dance in Indian Art . Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (organizer) (June 12-August 24, 1997). title: Indian Gallery 242b Rotation – November 2016 opening date: 2016-11-07T05:00:00 Indian Gallery 242b Rotation – November 2016. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 7, 2016-April 10, 2017). title: Beyond Bollywood: 2000 Years of Dance in Art opening date: 2022-11-11T05:00:00 Beyond Bollywood: 2000 Years of Dance in Art. The Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH (organizer) (November 11, 2022-February 5, 2023) https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/art/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions/beyond-bollywood-2000-years-of-dance-in-art/; Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (March 31-July 10, 2023) https://exhibitions.asianart.org/exhibitions/beyond-bollywood-2000-years-of-dance-in-art/. --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Stevens date: footnotes: citations: (John D. MacDonald, Manchester, NH, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: ?–1971 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1971– footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Akbar applied an aromatic paste under his arms, which stained his garment. digital description: wall description: This scene from an unidentified manuscript depicts entertainers at the Mughal court. The dancers appear to be from the fringes of society, and they may be intended to depict tribal people or semihuman nature spirits. One is dark skinned with small elephant ears and red-rimmed eyes, wearing a white tiger-skin pelt. The female dancer wears a collar of leaves; the male figure on the right has horns, wears bells, and carries an animal-headed club that appears to be made of bone. An exuberant orchestra provides musical and vocal accompaniment below. While not an imperial production, this painting may reference the Mughal emperor Akbar’s practice of welcoming a wide range of people from all regions and traditions to his court, since he was interested in understanding their customs. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Leach, Linda York. Indian Miniature Paintings and Drawings. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1986. page number: Reproduced: cat. no. 32 url: Masselos, Jim, Jackie Menzies, Pratapaditya Pal, and Reis Wenger Flora. Dancing to the Flute: Music and Dance in Indian Art. Sydney, Australia: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1997. page number: Reproduced: cat. no. 167 pp. 264-266 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1971.88/1971.88_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1971.88/1971.88_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1971.88/1971.88_full.tif