Bull. Ind. lnst. Hist. Mod. Vol. XVI pp. 53·'16

SOME INTERESTING ANATOMICAL EXHIBITS~

ABSTRACT

I procured two skeletons, one of ivory and other of wood, whichwere rare and extremely interesting works of art. At present they

are kept in the museum of the dopartrn ent of Anatomy, Andhra

Medical College, Vizaqapata m. These were purchased by me for

Rs. 75/- during the month of April ·-1926. The ivory skeleton is 5ft

6-1/2 inches in height and weighs 23 lbs , The skeletons were ordered

to be made by the then illustrious King Serfoji. He had for his English

tutor, the Danish missionary Schwartz. The period of these skele-

tons is estimated somewhere between 1805·181 J AD.

I have at present in my possession two skeletons one of ivory andthe other of wood, which have now been temporarily housed in themuseum of the department of anatomy, Medical College, Vizagapatam. Ihereby wish to express my sincere thanks to the Principal, l.t. Col. F. J,Anderson, M, C., M. B., F. R.C. S" who has been pleased to accord mepermission to have them there. I can find no place more suitable thanthe Anatomy Museum as they are anatomy specimens and as an opportu-nity is afforded thereby to the visitors of the College of seeing these rareand extremely interesting works of art. Vizagapatarn is famous for itsbeautiful ivory, sandalwood and tortoise-shell works of art, I sent theskeletons to a local workman for being overhauled and polished up. Heexpressed his intense admiration and appreciation of the exquisite crafts-manship. It is an exceedingly difficult task to shape ivory and wood toresemble human bones. Some means of softening and moulding ivorywas known perhaps to the ancients only, as evidenced by the colossalstatues at ivory of the Zeus of Olympia and Athena of Parthenon. Butthis work is one of simple carving. It is only those who are acquaintedwith the irregular and complicated contour of the bones of the humanskull that can realise the superb nature and excellence of the work of art.The prevailing opinion of the local workmen is that, even if a fabuloussum is offered, it is well nigh impossible to execute specimens of similar

t;. Reprinted from the 'Antiseptic' Vol. 2g, January. 1932.

!!it;. (Then) Prof. of Anatomy, Medical College, Vizaqapatam.

54 Bulletin Ind. Inst. Hist . Med. Vol. XVI

kind as there are no skilled workmen at the present day. The materialagain is very expensive. The long bones femur, tibia, fibula, humerus,radius and ulna are all single pi aces and whole tusks would have had tobe used for fashioning these bones and there should have been such awaste of material in the course of their preparation. The ivory skeleton is5 ft. 6l/~ inches in height and weighs 231bs.

Under strange and lucky circumstances did I come by these skeletons.I am sure they would have been seen exhibited in the spacious hall adjoin-ing the famous Saraswathi Mahal Library of the Tanjore palace, which iswell-known in South India for its wealth of incunabula and rare andvaluable palm-leaf manuscripts in various languages, by millions ofvisitors to the historic city of Tanjore. As a young boy, I have seen theseskeletons myself but never knew then that they were made of materialsother than bones and even well remember that the guide used to point themout with awe and reverence as the sacred remains of the distant cousinsof the last Mshratta King, Ananta Sivaji. In fact they may be said tohave formed a part of the valuable annexa to the library comprisingmodels and specimens. obviously intended for instructional purposes. Iam given to understand that the skeletons were made to order by theillustrious King Serfoji who was not only a brilliant scholar himself but amunificent patron of learning and fine arts. He had for his English tutor,the Danish missionary Schwartz whose memory has been perpetuated bythe Chapel located in the picturesque miniature Shivaganga tank fortressat Tanjore, to the east of the Shivaganga tank which is looked upon as aspa by the residents of Tanjore. It was during the reign of the King thatconsiderable additions are said to have been made to the library at thesuggestions of his exotic tutor. It would appear that the sovereignevinced a keen interest in the study of the subject of human anatomy andan articulated human bony skeleton was duly installed in the library.The presence of a bony skeleton - the remains of the human body withinthe precincts of the habitation of the royal household is said to have beendee ..ned sacrilegious and strongly objected to by the queens and otherconservative and orthodox relatives. Thereupon the King out ofdeference and regard to the sentiments and feelings of his kith and kin issaid to have placed an order for two skeletons made of materials whichwere unobjectionable. These specimens were executed by the skilledartists of Tanjore who flourished under the roval benefactors during theearly part of the nineteenth century. From information that was furnishedby the oldest descendants of the palace and from documents extant in the

SANDAL WOOD SKELETON

Anterior Posterior Lateral

..

'I

rvc RY SKELETON

Posterior Lateral

Courtesy: Principal, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnem.

Anstnmicet Exhibits-Rau 55

library, it is estimated that they should have b sen prepared some timebetween 1805 and 1810 A. D. The skeletons may be said therefore tobe about a century and a quarter old.

The erstwhile descendants of the once maqnificent. puissant andvaliant Mahratta kil1gs were reduced to such a sorry plight that the arttreasures, antique curios and expensive pieces of furniture came unfort-unately under the hammer at the instance of the exacting creditors andmany costly articles were sold away at just nominal prices. The twoskeletons with the rosewood almirah for holding them were bought by afriend of mine who had an eye to business for about Rs 75/-. He wentin for them with a view to profit by the sale of ivory that could be hadby dismantling the skeleton. He congratulated himself in having struck averitable bargain and took the precious articles home but his wife andchildren got such a fright that he had to get them removed soon after tosome other place in the neighbourhood. He wanted to effect a sale ofthem as quickly as possible. The local High schools were too poor tobuy them for even the cost price for which he was prepared to part withthem. I chanced to meet the gentleman who mentioned to me the detailsof his purchase. Interested as I was in anatomical specimens (I was thenlecturer in Anatomy in the Tanjore Medical School), I expressed my wishto go in for t~lem. I p aid the amount straight away and had themremoved to my house during April 1926. Since then they have been ;;•• nlme.

Ivory sculpture and decorative arts have ever held an honoured place. in all ages for the adornment of the royal palaces. Ivory has been usedfor making things too numerous to mention and but too well known toall. The Kensington Museum has a very large and varied collection ofIndian ivory carving believed to be a little older than the seventeenthcentury but this, I should consider, is indeed a unique use ivory has beenput to. I think that these are certainly rare specimens of art. I shouldlike to exhibit them in fine arts exhibitions here and abroad whereconnoisseurs of art can have an opportunity of seeing these excellentspecimens of Indian craftsmanship and it is my ambition to make a gift ofthem some day to centrally situated museum of anatomy in India.

56 Bulletin Ind. Inst. Hist. Med. Vol. XVl

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