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Description: | Gandau Ancestor Figure, Kalasha people, North West Pakistan
This figure was probably made in the early twentieth century for sale to British soldiers or administrators in what was then the North West Frontier Provence of British India. It is a smaller than life size replica of a gandau or ancestor figure. The Kalasha people who made it believe that objects which we see as inanimate such as trees or stones can have souls like our own.
Gandau serve a similar purpose to gravestones, they commemorate an individual’s life, but they also are understood to contain some of the essence of the deceased. So for the Kalasha gandau are more than just monuments, they are in some ways alive.
This made it all the more painful when during the course of the twentieth century many gandau were destroyed by Islamist zealots or stolen by criminals to sell to antiquities dealers. Recent years have seen several proclamations by the Taliban who threaten to attack the Kalasha unless they abandon their beliefs and convert to Sunni Islam. Despite Taliban intimidation the Kalasha continue to practice their religion and a revival is underway in the carving and use of gandau. Today gandau are again to be seen in the Kalasha homeland, a clear statement that the Kalasha are determined to maintain their way of life far into the future.
Wood, pigment, stone and ceramic. Early twentieth century. Formerly in the collection of the Welcome Historical Medical Museum, transferred to the Horniman in 1953.
Wooden ancestral figure of a man with incised armour and a helmet riding a horse with cermaic button eyes and an incised harness and saddle.
Max Klimberg, author of 'The Kaffirs of the Hindu Kush', says that the object was probably made for the tourist trade. Traditionally such statues would stand by the grave of a deceased leader. Extant examples of these funerary statues are generally considerably larger than the Horniman’s statue and show signs of having been weathered. If this was a tourist piece it would be an early example. Klimberg states that the Kalasha started making statues in small numbers for British colonial officials after the first world war.
caption: General view of whole of Horniman Museum object no 30.6.53/36
caption: Frontal view of whole of Horniman Museum object no 30.6.53/36
caption: Rear view of whole of Horniman Museum object no 30.6.53/36 | Publisher: | http://www.horniman.ac.uk/ | Rights holder: | Horniman Museum and Gardens | Subjects: | wood Kalash ancestor figures stone ceramic pigment Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine | Source: | Horniman Museum | Identifier: | oai:oai.horniman.ac.uk:object-77111 | Go to resource |
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