Potter's Paddle "Tara Pitana" ("Faceting Paddle")
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1 Aug 1988
label: Collection Date
content: 1980
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. Louise A. Cort
label: Collector
content: Purna Chandra Mishra
label: Donor Name
content: Dr. Louise A. Cort
notes: label: Notes
content: ELONGATED RECTANGULAR FLAT-SIDED PADDLE WITH POINTED END; LONG ROUNDED HANDLE; SPOTS OF LIME-WATER ( WHITE PIGMENT). COLLECTED FROM WORKSHOP OF DINABANDHU BISOI, MALE, AGED APPROX. 70 (DIED 1981). USED & WORN. "TARA" FROM THE VERB "TARIBA" "TO MAKE FACETS, TO BEAT", "PITANA" FROM THE VERB "PITIBA", "TO BEAT"; THE GENERIC TERM FOR PADDLE. THE NARROW FLAT SURFACE OF THIS TYPE OF "PITANA" IS USED IN THE SECOND (FINISHING) STAGE OF BEATING, TO PRODUCE THE ROWS OF FACET MARKS ON THE WALLS AND THE CIRCULAR MARK ("TOPI") ON THE BASE. THE "PITANA" IS CONSIDERED BY ORIYA KUMBHARAS TO HAVE ORIGINATED IN THE MALE ("GADA") EMBLEM OF VISNU THAT WAS GIVEN BY THE DEITYTO THE ORIGINAL POTTER FOR USE AS A TOOL. ALSO CALLED "CHOTA PITANA" (LITTLE PADDLE). THE SPOTS OF LIME-WATER PIGMENT ADHERING TO THE "PITANA" INDICATE THAT IT HAD NOT BEEN USED AGAIN AFTER HAVING BEEN WASHED AND WORSHIPPED ASPART OF THE OBSERVANCE OF "KURALA PANCAMI".
label: Record Last Modified
content: 30 Jul 2020
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Tikarapada Village / Puri Town, Puri, Orissa (Odisha), India, Asia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Oriya Kumbharas, Kumbhara-Bisois, Jagannath Temple Potters
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 361229
label: USNM Number
content: E423354-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Paddle
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 33 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 5 cm