About this item

• Small enough for a desk or a dashboard: Each elephant stands 3 inches high, 4 inches long and 1.5 inches wide and weighs about 130 g, so the pair fits a study table, a car dashboard, an office desk or a bookshelf without crowding it
• Fits where a big showpiece cannot: Sits beside a laptop, in an office cabin, on a mandir shelf, a windowsill or a bedside table; at this size the pair reads as a quiet detail rather than a centrepiece
• Marble dust and resin, finished by hand: Cast from resin blended with marble dust, then hand-painted and hand-polished; the blanket, headpiece, eyes, tusks and anklets are painted by hand at a small scale, so slight brush variations are normal
• Trunk up Vastu and Feng Shui decor: In Indian tradition an elephant pair with raised trunks is believed to welcome prosperity and good fortune; the two are made to face each other and are finished with a clear lacquer coat
• Easy to gift in numbers: The small size and light weight suit return gifts, wedding favours, Diwali and housewarming hampers and corporate giveaways; to clean, wipe gently with a soft dry or damp cloth and avoid soaking

Product Description

Three Inches: For the Dashboard, the Desk and the Mandir Shelf

3 in high · 4 in long · about 130 g each · a pack of 2, one facing left and one facing right

This is the smallest size in the range, and it exists for the places the bigger ones cannot go. Each elephant is 4 inches from trunk to tail, 3 inches high and about 130 g - roughly the footprint of a teacup and saucer - so the facing pair needs about 9 inches of width and no more.

Same construction as the larger pieces: cast solid from resin blended with marble dust, hand-painted, hand-polished and sealed under a clear lacquer coat. The grey body with its gold and red lattice blanket is finished by hand at this scale, which is the harder version of that job, not a simplified one.

Where a 3-Inch Pair Fits

On a Car Dashboard

Four inches long, an inch and a half wide, about 130 g each - a footprint a dashboard can actually take. Stand them on a non-slip dashboard mat, keep them clear of the airbag cover and out of your line of sight through the windscreen, and bring them inside if the car will sit in full sun for hours.

On a Study Table or Office Desk

Beside a laptop, a pen stand or a row of books, a 3-inch pair reads as a small detail rather than a display. It leaves the desk usable, which is more than an 8-inch showpiece manages on the same surface.

On a Mandir Shelf, a Bookshelf, a Bedside Table

A pooja ghar shelf is usually full already. At this size the pair fits at the two ends of a step, on a narrow windowsill, between books, or on a bedside table without anything else having to move to make room.

The measurements

• 3 in / 7.6 cm high, 4 in / 10.2 cm long, 1.5 in / 3.8 cm wide
• About 130 g each, about 260 g the pair
• 2 pieces: 1 left-facing, 1 right-facing
• Marble dust blended with resin, cast solid
• Hand-painted, hand-polished, clear lacquer coat
• Allow about 9 in of width for the facing pair

The Desk, the Console, and the Gift Box

On a Study Table

Behind a notebook, beside a lamp, in front of a row of books. At 3 inches the pair holds a corner of the desk without taking any of the part you actually use, which is the whole argument for the small size.

On the Entrance Console

Beside the key tray under the hall mirror, or at the two ends of a mandir step. Most Indian entrances and pooja shelves are short of space rather than short of things to put on them, and this size can be added without moving anything.

Return Gifts and Favours, by the Handful

At 260 g a pair this is the size you can hand out at a wedding, a mehndi, a housewarming or a Diwali get-together without the cost or the packing weight of a large showpiece. Buy several, give several, and each still arrives looking considered.

Small Enough to Hold in Two Palms

Small decor is the easiest thing in the world to misjudge from a photograph, so here is the pair held in two open hands. Three inches high, four inches long, about 130 g each - and that is the honest picture of it.

Buy it for that reason, not in spite of it. A dashboard, a desk beside a laptop, a bedside table and a crowded mandir shelf all have room for something this size and none of them have room for an 8-inch pair.

It also travels. About 260 g for the two, cast solid rather than hollow, so it handles being carried in a bag or posted onward far better than glass or ceramic at the same size.

Wedding and Anniversary Gifting

An elephant pair is one of the few decor gifts that is explicitly about two: two pieces, cast to face each other, sold and given together. At a wedding or an anniversary that reads on its own, without anybody having to spell it out on the card.

The small size helps rather than hurts. A couple setting up a first home has more shelf pressure than spare surface, so a 3-inch pair goes onto a study table, a dressing table or a mandir shelf on day one instead of waiting for the right console to exist.

Cleaning is a soft dry or slightly damp cloth and nothing more. Do not soak it, keep scouring pads and bathroom cleaners off the paint, and keep it out of long spells of hard direct sun.