Producer unknown to us
2 clay figurines (dragon, ram)
Asia, Uzbekistan, Tashkent
Mid-20th century
Clay, fired
Wolf-Dieter Seiwert (ethnologist) acquired these figurines during a trip to Tashkent in 1984
Purchased by the Museum from Inge Seiwert in 1986
WAs 2834 a, b
These figurines depicting a dragon and a ram are made of fired clay. According to the collector, the dragon was particularly popular in Uzbekistan, as it was considered a lucky charm. Such playing pieces have been made in the region for a long time; in the 1970s and 1980s, they were produced exclusively by the “Union of the Masters of Folk Art” in Samarkand, and sold in souvenir shops.
Wolf-Dieter Seiwert (*1945) had started working at the Leipzig museum in 1973. He was part of a research focus group on pastoral nomadism in the deserts between West Africa and Central Asia. His professional expertise was the Maghreb in North Africa. Before 1989, he traveled to Libya, Mauritania and other countries.
Seiwert acquired these figurines in Tashkent in 1984.
Frank Usbeck