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Will the real Maharajah please stand up

15/12/2016

Above: The traditional Maharajah in the pose we have always seen him in

Unusual 1950s Maharajah statue discovered.

Over the years we have seen many souvenir Maharajah statues used for gifting and promotional purposes. They come in all sizes right from the more common 110 mm tall, all the way up to 1 meter in height. However, one thing is common. The Maharajah is always in one frozen pose. Always with his right hand bent at the elbows, palm across his breast, and left hand by his side.

This is the Maharajah pose we are all familiar with, and have come to know and easily recognise. We have seen him standing with his head slightly bowed, eyes lowered, and gracefully welcomng us abord his magic carpet for a ride into the heavns.

So, I was really surprised to come across a Maharajah souvenir statue in a unique pose. This one has his palms joined in Namaste, the traditional Indian greeting. More interestingly, the legend at the foot of the Maharajah reads Air-India International. The presence of the word International in the name of the airline dates back to the 1948-1962 period. So, it would be a safe bet to date this one to the 1950s. He is about 100 mm tall, and seems to cast in Plaster of Paris. The statue is in surprisingly good condition, and barring some paint chipping off the base, the rest of the condition is excellent, and the colours are bright and fresh.

I have come across images of the Maharajah in the 1990s and later in Air-India advertisements in this pose, but never before in something dating back to the 1950s. I will continue to look for such statues, hopefully in varying sizes, and post here whenever I get a chance.

Above: The unusual Maharajah dating back to the 1950s with his palms folded together welcoming his guests with a Namaste.

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Air-India International Collectables on display

4/12/2016

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The J.R.D. Tata Memorial Trust held it's annual affair at the Taj Lands End Hotel in Mumbai yesterday. I was invited to exhibit some items from our collection. The theme we selected was the The Air-India International era (1948-1962). Air-India International started flying on 8 June 1948 and changed it’s name to Air-India exactly 14 years later on 8 June 1962.

This was a glorious era, as our newly independent nation found expression in modernity and the airline earned it’s reputation as the finest in the world.
Here we focused on a selection of Air-India International memorabilia from these years, and tied these up with the principal routes developed by the airline during these years. These routes (with start date) were:

Bombay – London (1948)
Bombay – Nairobi (1950)
Bombay – Tokyo (1955)
Bombay – Sydney (1956)
Bombay – Moscow (1958)

The exhibit itself consisted of several items including travel posters, timetables, baggage tags and decals, the famous in-flight service coasters, stationary, first flight covers, route maps etc. etc. On account of the limited space available we could not display many of the 3-dimensional objects like aeroplane models, Maharajah statues etc.
The great news is that Air-India plans to set up a permanent museum and gallery in the ground floor of their Nariman Point office in Mumbai, and has a team working on it. This will display their renowned art collection, as well as their own airline memorabilia. Looking forward to the big day!
Meanwhile, please enjoy some pictures of the event.

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Air-India Collector

Will the real Maharajah please stand up

Air-India International Collectables on display

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