Sunday 5 September 2010

Whose find is it anyway?



I have been busy this week working on a new mini project which I hope I will be able to show you soon, but first I promised to show you my finds from last weekend's street market.



It's two statues of the Hindu gods Vishnu and Ganesha. But Polly Line says I'm talking gibberish, since these statues are her souvenirs from a trip to India with dr Whatson in the SARDIS. And according to her the Bonsai mudmen figurine on the left is also hers, bought in a little Bonsai tree shop when they were in Paris. I guess my memory is not what it once was, maybe I'm getting old...



UPDATE: The wonderful Rebecca made me aware that the Vishnu statue may be a statue of his wife Lakshmi instead! Thanks Rebecca!

The Vishnu/Lakshmi statue is 4cm tall, the Ganesha is 2.5 cm and the bonsai mudmen are just 1.4cm tall.
And the latter was infact bought in a bonsai tree shop in Paris, for just 1.5€ :-)

23 comments:

rosanna said...

Appereantly there is a link between miniaturists with like minds ;o)). I'll look forward to seeing what you'll do with the little statues. In the meanwhile I wish you a peacefull beginning of the week. Minihugs Rosanna

callsmall said...

Love them all! I have been on the hunt for these as well, but have not had much luck! Polly knows her stuff ;)

Sans! said...

My dear, this is toooo weird. I tell you why. I have the little "bonsai mud men" (love the term you coined) too!!! I have 2 sets, one is of 2 men having tea and another is them chatting. They are the same men :).

Yesterday when I was looking for things to put in the shrine, I took these mud men out from the newspaper they were wrapped in. I didn't use them since they are clearly Chinese. You know the stupa? I bought it with these mud men sometime early last year and they were still in the newspaper until yesterday:).

I read somewhere that Vishnu is one of the most common main deities in a Hindu home? The other being Shiva:) Your Ganesha is so tiny and reminded me of the one in Rosanna's bracelet :).

I also love the console and Polly Line's shoes, Did you make her new clothes? They are very slimming :).

Accccckkk! I hope your new project is not the pagoda! :(

Pubdoll said...

Thanks Rosanna, I don't wish my week to be peaceful,working with my miniature project is far more fun than relaxing :-)

But don't expect to much of me, unlike Sans who does such a fantastic job on finding facts and making the proper settings for these gods, I fear they are just decorative elements and nice souvenirs for Polly Line. After all she's a western modern girl :-)

Pubdoll said...

Thanks callsmall, so funny you have been on the lookout for these as well! You can buy them on the net, I found a sales site where they were called chinese bonsai mudmen. I love them, especially since two such men (just 5 times larger) are sitting on my piano in my parent's home.

Pubdoll said...

Thanks Sans! It is really weird! But I must admit I wasn't all that surprised you had such men too, they look as something that would fit your style perfectly, even though they're not Indian. You can read in my comment to callsmall why I love these so much, I always used to admire them while playing the piano. The "Bonsai mud men" name isn't mine. I didn't know what to call them so I searched for photos of chinese figurines to see if I could find the right name for them. I already had another Ganesha, a decoration on an incense burner, but it wasn't as beautifully detailed as this one. I first thought the God was called Ganesh, but Bendik corrected me :-)

The console is the same that I used in the Lekman box setting and is by Barton.
I'm glad you like Polly Line's shoes, because they are stuck on her forever, unless I chop her feet off :-) They are the shoes she wore when I bought her, I wish the dolls could have been sold without the shoes, it looks so ridiculous to wear shoes in bed or in the bathroom! As usual the clothes are made by Cocco. She has made so many outfits for me, so I can start to combine them :-) But Polly Line was happy to hear she lookeds slim in them :-)

And have no fear, my next project is definitely not a pagoda, but Polly Line will have good use for your/her slippers in it :-)

Janne said...

Dine innlegg er alltid koselige å lese!
Fine figurer.

Janne

My Realitty said...

Very beautiful! Polly line has a good eye! CM

Mimmi said...

Så flotte figurer! Kjekt å komme over slikt! Jeg har en liten leire figur som minner litt om de du har. Min ser ut som en asiatisk dame som sitter. Søsteren min fant den på et marked i Berlin til ca 10 kr. Skal ikke så mye til for å gjøre meg glad :-)

Pubdoll said...

Tusen takk Janne, det var hyggelig å høre!

Pubdoll said...

Thank you Carol, Polly Line spotted them in a stand stuffed with all kinds of hippie items and asian inspired jewelry, so she very nearly missed them. I'm very glad she didn't :-)

Pubdoll said...

Tusen takk Anne Mari, så artig at du har en liknende figur! Jeg synes det var helt fantastisk og finne så fine figurer til bare 12 kroner! Det gjorde meg veldig glad i hvertfall :-) Og de ser enda mer detaljerte ut i virkeligheten enn på bildene.

Pan said...

I have never seen bonsai mudmen before!

That statues look realy good.

Daydreamer said...

What wonderful treasures for you... I mean Polly Line... to find in your local market! Whoever it was who found them has great taste! They are so beautifully made and look wonderful on the console.
I can't wait to see what your new project is!

Petra said...

Polly looks very happy with her finds. I love love love flea-markets, and I see you do too. I have a similar figure too, of course I found it on our big flea-market in the park.
In this year it happened that I wasn't in the city, when there was this fleamarkets. I was in rehab, or - this weekend - in Berlin. But there are some shops I discovered near to my flat where I can find - when I'm lucky - such pieces. I guess you'll make a wonderful scene with your finds, can't wait to see it.
Have a nice day!

Pubdoll said...

And I had never seen bonsai mudmen that small before Pan :-) When I saw them, I hardly could believe it was possible to make them so tiny and so cheap too!

Pubdoll said...

Thanks Betsy, yes regardless who found them, we were both very happy. What ever makes Polly Line happy, makes me happy :-) And these statues are so nicely detailed.
But I must admit my next project is much more down to earth than these Gods :-) Perhaps not as much down to earth as your dragons in the basement though :-)

Pubdoll said...

Thanks Oese! I know you love fleemarkets and second-hand stores and I have often been a bit envious of all your great finds! :-)
As for my new project, I hope I haven't hyped it up too much and you all will be disappointed when you see it :-)

Unknown said...

¡Son preciosas! Has hecho unas buenas compras, se pueden colocar en muchos lugares de la casa y llenaran de elgancia el lugar.
Besos Clara

Pubdoll said...

Gracias Clara, me siento muy feliz de que pensaban que eran elegantes! Y yo pensaba exactamente lo mismo que tú, Polly Line no vayan a adorar a las estatuas, Polly Line los compró porque son muy decorativos :-)

Thank you Clara, I'm very happy you thought they were elegant! And I thought exactly the same as you, Polly Line do not intend to worship the statues, she only bought them because they are so decorative. :-)

Rebecca said...

I love these tiny statues - they look old, and have a lovely patina! I have looked at some on ebay, as I would like to have some, but they look so new! Very good find, both of you!
I do wonder though if the standing one is of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth? The statue looks as though it's wearing a sari - certainly a long skirt, which I don't think a male god would - and Vishnu should be holding things in his lower hands too. Is the statue holding lotuses? It's a bit hard to make out! The lower hands would be giving blessings (palm out, upraised) and showering coins (fingers pointing down). I'm not sure, but that's what I think!

I have never heard of Chinese mudmen, but bonsai ornaments are a great idea for dolls house ornaments! Must check it out :-)

Pubdoll said...

Thanks Rebecca! I loved the patina too, but I'm not sure how well the details will show in photos in a dark room, these photos were taken outside in the sun.

Unlike you (and Bendik who has just finished reading a huge book about mythologi from all over the world) I'm no expert on Hindu gods :-) But it sounds like you're right. I just knew the name Shiva and asked the young couple who sold the statues if it was him, but they said it was Vishnu. (Judging by the other things they sold, they seemed to be very into eastern religions and style so to me it was very plausible that they knew what they was talking about :-))
I asked Bendik, but he said it woud be difficult for him to identify the god without any help from colours, so I googled them both, and judging by the descriptions I found, the figure do look more like Lakshmi than Vishnu, but since all the details are so tiny it's hard to tell exactly what he/she's holding in his/hers four hands. Thank you for making me aware of this! :-)

By the way, I sent you a mail to the mail address I found on your Flickr page. Have you received it?

Johanna Janhonen said...

congrats - you have just won a blog award in mini treasures blog: http://minitreasures.blogspot.com/2010/10/blog-award-for-mini-treasures.html