THE BUST OF KORLA PANDIT

The Bust Of Korla

In 1949 Korla's wife Beryl's father, noted sculptor George DeBeeson of Pomona, California, created The Bust Of Korla. It was originally sculpted in water based clay, and Korla signed the clay model on the left coat lapel before the mold was made. His actual signature is part of the bust, and visible on each copy of the bust.

The sculpting of the turban so perplexed Beryl's father, that Korla wrapped muslin directly upon the clay head. The mold was then made of the clay bust with turban fabric wrapped by Korla himself!

Only a limited number of castings of The Bust Of Korla were made. Each was cast of bisque (clay that has been fired once, then glazed or not, depending upon the desired finish).

The busts were finished variously; Antique French Vanilla White, New Delhi Glazed White with faint Ganges Gold highlights, Azure Blue with Ganges Gold highlights, Bronze, Curried Cinnamon with Ganges Gold highlights, Mother Of Pearl, Namaste Antique Gold, Tusk Ivory, and 17 Karat Grand Moghul Gold finish.

These busts were used on Korla's television programs, as props and set pieces, and even offered for sale briefly to Korla's fans during his pioneer Television series.

The busts measure 11 1/2" inches high by 5" wide by 4" deep. Approximate weight of each bust is 2 1/2 lbs.

Two of The Busts of Korla are now owned by the Pandit family, another by Verne Langdon, and six other Busts Of Korla are known to be in the possession of collectors, one of which was purchased at auction on eBay, on July 22, 2001, for $ 525.00, and another bust (the one from Korla's own mantelpiece) was purchased in May of 2004 on eBay by Freek Kinkelaar.

When a public auction of the Korla Pandit Estate was conducted in September of 2005, George DeBeeson's original Bust Of Korla mold was among the items sold.

Verne Langdon, student and longtime friend and producer of Korla Pandit's, now owns the original DeBeeson mold created by Korla's father-in-law, and carries on the DeBeeson tradition, employing the original bisque formula casting and finishing techniques devised by Mr. DeBeeson to create painstakingly hand-finished authentic bisque Busts Of Korla. In December 2006 the first bust, created by Verne Langdon, was offered for sale via the internet.

If you own The Bust Of Korla, or other Korla Pandit memorabilia, we'd love to hear from you!

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