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 elephant. The eyes look upward to the yellow eyebrows, where the separation of the trunk, and the ears are outlined with yellow. The trunk is outlined with green, and has horizontal white lines. Has white tusks. The ears have a pink dot at the bottom lobes. The mouth is a curved pink line. Has a blanket with a pink flower at the centre surrounded by green cross-hatching with white dots at the intersections outlined with yellow. The feet have three white dots, above which, there are two horizontal lines, one of which is yellow while the other is green. Wearing a yellow necklace with a pink dot pendant.