Buddhas and Birdskins | Alabaster elephants
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Alabaster elephants

Theme:
Nature
About

Object Number: E672

Collection: Ethnographic

A pair of carved white alabaster figures of elephants in the act of trumpeting or saluting on plinths. Elephants have important astrological significance in Burma, and they were also a part of pre-colonial dynastic systems of status, tribute and regalia. In addition, they appear in the life stories of the Buddha. The British believed that white elephants were worshiped by the Burmese. British Imperial imagery and ceremonies also used elephants, and in Burma elephants were used heavily in the colony’s teak industry.