"III - I B.C".
This is certainly a spectacular set, in part because it depicts a spectacular subject. Elephants were a feature of Indian armies by the 6th century BCE, and Europeans first came upon them when Alexander campaigned in Persia and India. From then on every army adopted elephants, which remained fashionable until after Hannibal, perhaps their most famous employer.
The set is named 'War Elephants', which is pretty vague. However the pictures of the beautifully painted models on the back of the box identify the first elephant and crew (the first two rows shown above) as the North African Forest Elephant, and the second as an Indian elephant. The North African Forest Elephant, which was thought extinct but is now endangered, is a small animal, and stands at a height of less than 2.5 metres at the shoulder. Both these animals are about 45mm (3.2 metres) at the shoulder. Because of its size the African Forest could not have carried a crew of four as modelled here, so this animal is unlikely to be associated with Carthage or Ptolemaic Egypt, which used this species. The decoration on the second animal, coupled with the appearance of the crew, mean it is not part of any Indian army.
The first issue is the species of animal. In fact both these are much the same size, with similar sized ears and a trunk that ends in one point. The size, ears and tusk characteristics mean both appear to be Indian (the species, not the nationality), and therefore would have been introduced to Europe after the campaigns of Alexander.
Inhoud:
- 7 figuren + 2 Olifanten
