A Mumbai-based surgeon is on a quest to trace all 372 sculptures made by his great grandfather, the iconic sculptor Ganpatrao Mhatre, who took the art world by storm in the 19th century with ‘ Mandirpathagamini ’ (To the Temple). The life-size statue shows a Maharashtrian woman in a nine yard sari, on her way to a temple.
Dr. Hemant Pathare has located 280 figures so far. Among the ones he is still looking for are a Saraswati standing on a peacock that went missing from a Sangli museum, a marble statue of Lord Ram, a bust of King George V that disappeared from a Gujarat college and another of Sir William Dring of the East Indian Railway Company that once stood at Howrah station.
Life-size statues
“There was also a full-size marble bust of Zarathustra made for Parsi philanthropist Bomanji Dhinshaw Petit, and a seated Ganesha for Sir Hurkisondas Narrotamdas. No one knows their current location,” said Dr. Pathare. At least 50 of the yet-to-be-traced sculptures are life-size statues and busts. Mhatre’s preserved records are his main references, but articles, books and relatives have also helped. In 1896, Mandirpathagamini won the best sculpture prize and a medal from the Bombay Art Society. “Till then, all memorial sculptures, bronze or marble, were done by Europeans. Indian royalty did not entrust such tasks to Indian sculptors,” said Dr. Pathare.
“It is easy to identify his work. The eyes, face, features, everything is true to life,” he said.
The doctor’s search has taken him across the country. He traced some figures in the State Bank of India, Central Bank of India and the Masina Hospital in Mumbai and some across the border at the Karachi Parsi Institute. “The royal family in Mewar graciously allowed me access to their collections,” he said.
Dr. Pathare, who is attached to the Jaslok Hospital, plans to publish his work as a coffee-table book. His entire path, tracking the 280 sculptures was recorded by photographer Gauri Shetye. Historian Sandeep Dahisarkar also helped with the research.
During his endeavour, he was struck by the neglect of the artwork. “Many British statues were damaged after independence. A 1905 statue of Queen Victoria in Ahmedabad has a broken nose,” he said. “In 2012, I traced the statue of philanthropist Sir Chinubhai Ranchhodlal in Ahmedabad and by the time I sent a photographer in 2017, some miscreants had broken his hands and nose”. He had also traced a statue of King George V in a shed near the Elphinstone College. The 9 ft bronze statue was kept at the Gateway of India till 1965 and later replaced by a statue of Shivaji Maharaj. “For the sake of art, our government has to step in to preserve such work,” he said.
Mhatre’s sculptures include 267 busts, 64 full size statues and seven equestrian statues, said to be the most difficult ones to sculpt. He signed his name on the pedestal or at the back of the sculpture, except for statues of gods and goddesses, as he did not want his name carved on to divinity.
