A decorative illustration by Edmund Dulac from The Kingdom of the Pearl, featuring a stylised elephant and figures in a refined, orientalist aesthetic.

The Pearl of the Elephant is a plate from the 1920 publication, The Kingdom of the Pearl. Edmund Dulac, a French-born illustrator who settled in London, created this work during a period when his style shifted from traditional fairy-tale illustration toward a more decorative, stylised aesthetic influenced by Persian miniatures and Eastern art forms.

The composition features a large, white elephant positioned against a simplified, earthy terrain. Atop the animal, a figure with blue skin, reminiscent of depictions of the Hindu deity Krishna, interacts with a reclining woman. The figures are rendered with fine, precise lines and flat colour application, typical of Dulac's mature period. The woman is draped in a large, shell-like form, which serves as a visual pun on the title of the book. The trees in the background are depicted as stylised, rounded shapes, contributing to the overall ornamental quality of the scene.

Dulac's technique in this work demonstrates his mastery of watercolour. He uses thin, controlled washes to define the texture of the elephant's skin and the delicate folds of the figures' garments. The palette is carefully balanced, with the stark white of the elephant providing a neutral base for the blues, greens, and soft pinks of the central figures. The work avoids heavy shading, opting instead for a clear, graphic clarity that prioritises decorative harmony over realistic depth. This piece reflects the broader interest in exoticism and orientalist themes that permeated British illustration during the early twentieth century, where artists often synthesised diverse cultural motifs into a singular, cohesive visual language.