As happens far too often, the sculptors behind some of the statues are totally unknown. That's not a criticism of Shane in any way. I'm a die-hard collector of props like this and I couldn't tell you who created half of my idols, much to my chagrin. That's one of the motivations behind my efforts to post about any Cthulhu statuettes I come across- so that the artists can receive proper credit.
One of those occasions when "Horde" and "Hoard" both equally apply...
ReplyDelete... along with "Horrid"....
--Raven.
Yes, it is a shame that I do not know who sculpted some of the pieces in my collection. I am not sure why an artist would go to so much trouble to create and sell a piece of art, and not sign it. If anyone recognizes an unnamed artist please contact me ASAP.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
(And thanks for sharing my pic!)
"I am not sure why an artist would go to so much trouble to create and sell a piece of art, and not sign it."
ReplyDeleteIn the case of pieces like this... to let the customer maintain his or her willing suspension of disbelief?
It's a whole lot easier to pretend to yourself, "Yes, this really is an ancient piece of cult statuary," if you're *not* looking at an inscription on the item that says "©2007 John Doe."
Propnomicon Sensei, are your things-in-bottles signed? No? Same reason, right?
--Raven
Raven raises a good point about avoiding signatures on work to support their immersiveness.
ReplyDeleteThat said, it's amazing how many Cthulhu idols are created by unknown artists. As a collector I always feel guilty when I can't ID a piece, but some statues are close to impossible to match up with a sculptor. Over the years there have probably been close to a hundred professional idols produced, professional in this case being defined as a run of multiple copies that were offered for sale, but only..what...two dozen have identified artists?
In the absence of any ID *on* those pieces (or associated by labels, tags, boxes, enclosed certificates or prop-papers), it may be that the best thing to do is post some sort of "registry" webpage, where collectors and artists can pool info.
ReplyDeleteSomeone may spot your anonymous item #36 and say, "Here's one just like it (photo for confirmation) that I got directly from the artist at NecronomiCon #3; his name was...."
Or someone else surfing the Net may come across an artist's gallery and spot a match to your #37. And so forth.
Meanwhile, the info you've already gathered will help other collectors ID their own orphaned pieces.
"Cthulhu Idol Detectives" may seem a bit single-purpose, but you could always branch out into "Shub-Niggurath Idol Detectives" if the demand is there.
--Raven.
Oh, and if I might suggest for database purposes: index by weight (grams) and height (centimeters), using the two horizontal measures optionally e.g. to differentiate similar pieces.
ReplyDeleteWithout even looking at photos, e.g. in newsgroup or text-email discussions, that may be enough to identify pieces for discussion.
"Well, I've got this 2300g x 27.3cm idol..."
"Oh, hey, you've got the HPLHS Legrasse Idol by Bryan Moore of Arkham Studios! Which color surfacing did you get? They did three editions...."
Centered in the back row:
ReplyDeletehttp://propnomicon.blogspot.com/2010/11/cthulhu-fhtagn-poppe-edition.html
I have seen a few of the others as well, so I might be able to identify them.
The one on the far right seems to be by Sam Greenwell.
ReplyDeleteI thought I had seen a picture of it in a book of mine from a couple decades ago. When I checked the suspected books I found sculptures with similar forms, and drawings with some resemblance, but not this. Does anyone know when it was made?