Cthulhu as Imagined by HPL
Many talented sculptors have taken on the challenge of sculpting Cthulhu. But only one is closely based on not only what Lovecraft described, but is draws directly on an illustration made by Lovecraft himself. In a letter to Robert H. Barlow from May 11, 1934, Lovecraft drew a picture of the idol of the hellish great old one described in "The Call of Cthulhu". Sculptor Joe Broers took that penciled monstrosity and rendered it into a 3 dimensional sculpture (though possibly more dimensions may be at work here).
The idol is roughy seven and one half inches tall and sits on a plinth that's roughly three inches by three inches. It's cast in polyurethane resin and finished with a faux bronze patina. Naturally the plinth is decorated with dreadful hieroglyphic characters. It weighs about two and one half pounds (1 kg).
A truly amazing idol of the great Cthulhu, which no one can doubt was freshly picked up from the Louisiana swamps or some blasphemous shrine on the Greenland coast. To him belongs the highest place in my niche of weird and macabre literature.
But it also has drawbacks, namely:
The courier who brought the parcel anxiously mentioned that a New Zealand sailor had tried to steal it.
Apparently the reason for the disturbing vivid dreams that left me waking up with my feet covered in hideous grey mud and seaweed.
The base of the idol shows odd non-Euclidean angles that seem to engulf small objects such as coins and house familiars.
Springs right out the master's story and is quite massive. The fine folks at the Historical society did a great job in packaging the statue so that it arrives safely in my hands.
a high quality collector's item.
it's worth it
The statue is wonderfully made. It feels like a proper statue and not just a prop. It looks the part as well because of the paintjob. A fateful day to receive the statue based on H.P. Lovecraft's drawings, but with that perfect to remember him by.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!
While the photos here were enough to convince me to buy this, it is so much nicer in person! I am outfitting a new game room in a lovecraftian theme, and this (not so) little guy sitting on his plinth looks absolutely fantastic! He is subtle enough that people have to walk up to him to see what he is but impressive enough that they are taken aback when they do. Now I'm trying to come up with a suitable label to sit on the shelf next to him with his faux provenance. :)
