19th-Century Painted Wooden Models of Devadasis

19th-Century Painted Wooden Models of Devadasis By Donovan Roebert At some museums, and at several antique and fine arts vendor sites, one comes across wooden figures of South Indian devadasis. These are usually polychrome statues, having their centres of production in various areas of Tamil Nadu. In the abstract from his article, A Study of Indian Polychrome Wooden Sculpture, O.P. Agrawal presents the following brief overview of the history and technique of the art: ‘There is evidence in the literature that in India wood was used for making sculptures from very early times. Owing to the destructive climate, however, only wooden objects dating from the 7th century are available today, while polychromed wooden sculptures of the period before the 16th century are unobtainable. Sculptures were produced either by carving from one solid block or by building it up from small pieces. The main types of decorating were painting, inlay work or lac work. Painting was done sometimes without, but mostly with surface preparation. For this a thin layer of a ground was used. Sometimes a layer of cloth and then paper was used before applying the gesso. Pigments in common use were malachite, terre-verte, red ochre, red lead, lac dye, yellow ochre, chrome yellow, ultramarine, kaolin, and chalk. A gold effect was often produced by applying shellac varnish over shining silvery tin paint or foil. Lac work was produced by painting with lac solution or by turnery.’ The production of these artifacts seems regularly to have included statuettes of devadasis, though it is not clear from descriptions at the provenance loci whether these were used for ritual purposes in the temples themselves or were created merely for decorative purposes, and especially for onward sale to European collectors. One such item, and a very interesting example, was indeed made for a British client. It is a model of a ratha chariot on which are positioned numerous members of the temple hierarchy, as well as musicians and dancers: Figure 1: Model of a ratha temple chariot. (British museum). The dancers and musicians are shown in the following detailed section, which is taken from the front of the ratha: Figure 2: Detailed section of figure 1. The figurines depict two devadasis on either side of the seated deity, who seems rather to belong, suitably attired, on the now empty throne. There are two percussionists and a nattuvanar, some with Vishnuite markings. The presence of the devadasis denotes some aspect of their daily ritual attendance on the deity. The model was originally commissioned by David Simpson, an official of the East India Company stationed in Tiruchirapalli (then Trichonopoly). He brought it back to England, where it was put on auction in 1792 and acquired by Charles Marsh, who gave it to the British Museum. It is probable that this processional car is meant to replicate that of the Srirangam temple, which is located on the island in the Kaveri river, on whose banks Tiruchirapalli is situated. The model itself stands 2.2 metres high, and was most likely produced to provide a representative collection of aspects of temple-life and the personnel involved, including of course in the processional practice. Viewed from all sides, as can be done at the British Museum site, one sees that the musicians include both the cinnamelam and periyamelam groups. It is this kind of model, made specifically for a company official, that indicates one reason for the production of these polychrome wooden items, although they were clearly also produced for sale to a local clientéle. The following set of figurines was found in a Chettiyar mansion in Tamil Nadu: Figure 3: Group of military musicians with a single dancer. (Michael Backman Collection). We see here, what is nowhere else seen, either in photographs or company paintings of the period, a sepoy military band accompanying the dancer with Western wood, brass and percussion musical instruments, although there is one player on the Indian bagpipe. There is a nattuvanar standing directly behind the dancer, who is herself already in the flow of a nritta or pure dance item, perhaps just rising on her toes from a muzhumandi position. Figure 4 (A, B & C): details of the dancer and nattuvanar models from figure 3. It is hard to know for what sort of occasion this military band and dancer are performing. The set may represent an entertainment in a darbar setting or an important military function involving a parade. On the other hand it may be a more personal event such as the wedding of a high-ranking officer. The figurines are between 29cm-39cm in height, and apart from the metal waistband of the dancer (which may be bells), are entirely made of wood, with lacquered polychrome gouache. The source does not mention the place of manufacture. Such figurines are purely decorative and perhaps commemorative, but there are others which may have been used for ritual purposes, or as decorative pieces for ritual events. This polychrome wooden statuette of a devadasi might, for instance, have been used to decorate a ratha processional chariot: Figure 5 (A & B): Two views of a 19th-century polychrome wooden devadasi statuette. (Indar Pasricha Collection). The statuette is 51.5cm in height and shows a devadasi in full costume and jewelry, including vangi bracelets and head jewels. There are the sun and moon disks and the hamsa rakodi. Ankle-bells are seen resting on the feet and the dancer is shown in a dance posture. The figurine is repeated in a painted terracotta reproduction, also dated to the late 19th century: Figure 6: Terracotta reproduction of the polychrome wooden statuette shown in figure 5. (Vatican Collection). What this sort of reproduction implies is that craftsmen were working from standard models, which could be used not only for the recreation of an item in other plastic media, but also as static models for paintings and drawings. The models shown above are attributed either to artists in the Dharawad area of Karnataka or, what is more likely, in Madurai, where these items were found. Two very similar statuettes are found in the Asian Civilizations Museum: Figure 7: Two polychrome wooden devadasi statuettes. (Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore). Here is a closer look at the items in full: Figure 8 (A & B): Closer view of the two devadasi statuettes shown together in figure 7. These statuettes are rather larger than those in figures 5 and 6, standing quite tall at 138cm on a 68cm base. They are also painted with a lacquer finish with their place of origin given only as Karnataka and their dating to the 19th century. At this kind of size they might have been used in rathotsava processions, as shown in the photograph below: Figure 9: Rathotsava procession with wooden devadasi statuette. (Online postcard vendor). One sees in this photograph, which dates to the 1890s, a devadasi statuette attached to the front of the temple car. It is not clear to me why this figure is present in this position, and whether, as some commentators have suggested, the wooden figurine was used to replace the real devadasis in cases where none were any longer attached to that temple. In this case, the figurine has been dressed in cloth attire with metal breast-jewels and a garland, but this does not presuppose that the wooden statuette itself would not already have been painted in the same way as those in the illustrations above. The size of the statuette in the photograph also seems consonant with the height given for the images in figure 8. The next sculpture shows a dancer in a pose with a mudra: Figure 10: Dancer in pose with hastha mudra. In this sculpture the devadasi figurine seems to be displaying the shikhara hastha, which has such Shivaite connotations as the lingam and the bull. What its original purpose may have been is unknown to me. It may have been used as a decorative icon in a quasi-religious setting in a private home. The figure emphasizes the heavy neck and breast jewels typical of 19th-century devadasi costume and, interestingly enough, has painted toenails. It is also unusual to see a devadasi portrayed in any medium with any part of the lower legs exposed. This statuette, dated to the 19th century, was found at the site of an online vendor, which has since disappeared from view. And it is indeed the case that polychrome wooden statues of devadasis are not plentiful in the public domain. There are only two instances known to me of such figures appearing in museum collections. More usually they are found as items for sale by a variety of antiquarian and fine art dealers, and are therefore destined to disappear into private collections. The statue below is housed in the Auroville collection: Figure 11: A devadasi musician. (Auroville Collection). The figure is highly unusual in that it shows a dancer-musician playing the violin, a depiction that seldom occurs even in other pictorial data from the 19th century. Given the association of the violin with the Tanjore court, one is tempted to associate the production of this item with that city. This fine piece has obviously become part of the current décor, and the violin itself is wrongly positioned. What it does indicate, though, together with other depictions, is that South Indian dancers were quite often diverted into the role of accomplished musicians and even, in some cases, into the practice of nattuvangam. My own experience in searching for this kind of statuary, including pieces in bronze and ivory, is that points of sale often confuse statues of devadasis with those that actually represent dancing deities or religio-mythological types such as Krishna’s gopis or the apsaras of Indra. In these cases, what seems to me to distinguish the devadasi figures is their human qualities and the absence of mythological pointers such as semi-nudity and highly stylized complex dance postures, as well as facial features showing potent rasas. The devadasi statues are more earthy and as it were ‘down-to-earth’. The other constant problem is that of fakery: it is certainly not always the case that polychrome wooden statues are correctly dated, and imitations with suitable signs of wear are sometimes passed off as 19th-century items. In this regard, it is important that conservation experts pay more attention to devadasi statuary in all sculptural media so that genuine items and the historical meanings attached to them can be intelligently preserved. Note: 1.The quotation from O.P. Agrawal is from the article A Study of Indian Polychrome Wooden Sculpture, Studies in Conservation, vol.16, no.2, pp. 56-68, May 1971. 2. For notes on the wooden model of the processional chariot shown in figure 1 see Richard Blurton, A Processional Chariot from South India, British Museum blog, February 8, 2018. End.