Summary
Alternative Names: Poonah Figure, Poona Figure
This clay figure of a Guru or Hindu Priest was part of a series of 82 Indian clay figures purchased from Stubb and Co for £9.10 in 1867 by the National Gallery of Victoria. The group of figures, which came from Pune (Poonah), represented various castes, occupations and religious sects in India. The NGV Stock book describes the figure as a 'Gooroo, Hindoo Priest much revered, often live in the jungle'.
Physical Description
Figure of a man on a turned wooden base. The base is painted orange. There is a paper label glued to the upper surface of the base. The figure is plaster/composition modeled over wooden dowels, it is painted with a terracotta skin tone and dressed in fabric. His garments consist of a tall conical black hat, a white cotton coat and he has a number of strips of multicoloured cotton around arms. He is holding some looped string in his right hand and a black cylindrical object in his left. He has long sideburns and several linear white markings on his face and neck.
More Information
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Collection Names
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Collecting Areas
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Acquisition Information
Donation (Probable) from Exhibition: 1880 International, Melbourne, 1880
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Place & Date Made
Pune, Maharashtra, India, circa 1867
NGV Stockbook gives date range. -
Inscriptions
Printed in black ink on a paper label glued to the upper surface of the base: 34
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Classification
Museum history, Affiliated institutions, Exhibition heritage
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Category
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Discipline
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Type of item
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Overall Dimensions
9.5 cm (Width), 17 cm (Height)
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Keywords
Artistic Practices, Artists, Crafts, Dolls, Handcrafts, Indigenous Cultures, Modelmaking, Museum History, Religions: Hinduism, Sculpture