Animal Decor

Brass and plated animal forms with a run of enamelled meenakari pieces alongside. Elephants are the largest part of the range, then Kamdhenu cows and horses, with a tortoise, peacock, swan, parrot and camel.

Each of these forms carries meaning in Indian tradition. Some of that meaning is genuinely ancient and some was invented for a product listing, so this page tries to be clear about which is which.

Elephants

The largest part of the collection and the form with the deepest attestation. Elephants run through Indian art in three separate streams: Ganesha; Airavata, Indra's white elephant, named in the Bhagavad Gita; and Gaja Lakshmi, the goddess flanked by elephants, carved in stone from the last centuries BCE. In that iconography the elephants connect to rain, and through rain to abundance.

Ours include single figures, trunk-up pairs from 2 inches upward, and Ambari elephants carrying the ceremonial howdah. Pairs at an entrance, facing into the room, is the usual arrangement in Indian homes.

On the raised trunk: it is a much-loved convention and we make plenty of them, but as far as we can find it has no basis in the classical Gaja Lakshmi iconography. It appears to be modern. Not a reason to avoid it. Only a reason not to believe anyone who tells you trunk direction is scripture.

Kamdhenu, the wish-fulfilling cow

The second largest part of this collection and, oddly, the form almost nobody writes about. Kamdhenu, also called Surabhi, is the mother of all cows in Hindu tradition, described across the epics and the Puranas, and counted among the treasures that came from the churning of the ocean. She is shown with her calf, and that pair is among the most given Dhanteras and housewarming pieces in India. We make her in gold and silver plate, roughly 2.5 to 5 inches.

Horses

Antique-finish running and standing horses at 12 and 15 inches, a gold plated knight horse, and a meenakari horse. In Indian tradition the horse carries speed and vitality, and Uchchaihshravas, the divine white horse, also came from the ocean-churning.

Worth separating out: the seven-horse and horse-with-coins arrangements are Chinese rather than Indian, belonging to feng shui. Where we make those we name them accordingly, since calling them vastu would be a category error.

Tortoise

Small in number here, large in the questions people ask. The Indian pedigree is excellent. Kurma, the tortoise avatar of Vishnu, bore Mount Mandara during the churning of the ocean, and the Vedic literature associates the tortoise with steadiness under weight.

The familiar instruction to face it north and sit it in water comes from a different tradition: the Black Tortoise of the North is one of the Four Celestial Animals of Chinese feng shui. Both are real, they are not the same, and the Indian story is the better one.

The meenakari birds, and the camel

Peacock, swan, parrot and camel, all enamel worked into engraved metal and fired, in the Jaipur meenakari tradition. The peacock is Paravani, the mount of Kartikeya, called Murugan in Tamil Nadu. The swan is the hamsa, Saraswati's vahana, associated with discernment.

The camel carries little traditional symbolic weight in Indian practice and we are not going to invent some to make the listing sound deeper. It is a handsome enamelled object from a real craft tradition, which is enough.

Materials and care

Solid brass darkens with time. That is oxidation, not damage. Lemon and salt or soaked tamarind lifts it, then rinse and dry completely, since trapped moisture is what dulls it again within a week. Deep clean occasionally rather than often, because the pastes are mildly abrasive and repeated cleaning wears fine detail away permanently.

Plated pieces are the opposite: dry cloth only, never an acidic paste, which strips plating instead of tarnish. Meenakari enamel is wipe-dry only. To tell solid brass from plated, use weight and sound. Brass is markedly heavier for its size and rings with a sustained note where plated resin gives a dull knock.

Where these sit in the range

For the wider decorative range see home decor, showpieces for the living room and wall decor. Pieces from Chinese practice are grouped in vastu decor. For the enamel work, the meenakari collection; for solid metal, brass idols and gold and silver plated idols. For deities rather than animals, god idols and figurines and Ganesha idols.

These are among the most given griha pravesh and housewarming gifts and common at Dhanteras. For volume see corporate gifts and bulk gift items, or send the details on the bulk order enquiry page.

Before you order

• Figurines photograph larger than they are. A 2 inch elephant pair is a desk object.
• Elephants are usually sold as pairs. Check whether a listing is one piece or two.
• Confirm solid brass or plated. They age and clean differently.
• Meenakari and antique finishes take dry dusting only.