putul (Toy)

Bengali potters of the (Kumara) Kumbhakara caste are heirs to a long tradition in village and urban areas. Production of clay pots and vessels for everyday use is their regular occupation. However, images for votive offerings are also important and are variously represented as fertility figures, protective symbols (horses, elephants), or gods. The animal and human figures sold as toys have a close affinity in shape and character to the votive images. In fact, the same image often fulfills both purposes. This doll, in the highly stylized Krishnanagar mode, has developed as a handicrafts industry, adapting folk styles to more modern tastes.

A small stylized dark purple clay horse. The eyes are red dots surrounded by smaller white dots. There is a vertical row of three green dots in between the eyes. The ears are accentuated with yellow curvi-linear lines. The neck has a double band of orange surrounded by white dots, from which smaller white dots cascade. The tail is decorated the same as the eyes. The feet are accentuated with vertical and diagonal white lines.