PROP ID: Last Crusade/Dracula

[JoshuaV]

Greetings,
I've been trying to ID this prop for a good while now. I aquired it from a antique place here in Hollywood. The person I bought it from claimed it was from the Indiana Jones films. I was skeptical but after looking at the quality of the resin/foam casting and the notations on the bottom written in Spanish I could tell at the very least, it was indeed a film prop. He then showed me additional props he acquired which included some statues from Dracula (1992 Coppola I believe). This would explain some of the red candle wax or paint I found along one side of the statue.

True to form I started combing through all the films trying to place it. With its origins in either Spain or SoCal, I went through Dracula and to my dread, saw a bombardment of statures, most intelligible or in cast shadow. I then went through the BTS footage, also no such luck.

Enter Indiana Jones. I went through all three films in an attempt to see if I could place the statue prop, sure enough it was quite a chore but I to my shock believe I narrowed it down to at least one film, The Last Crusade. I took screen caps of the main set I believe it "Might" be from, along with the statue it might have come from. I know this set was primed for destruction during the films climax, and along with this sets are commonly dismantled and demolished after production and pending on the FX house used, many of those props go back into circulation for other productions. I'm including photos of my Indy investigation.

All this said, I'm not determined one way or the other of the film this prop may come from. Hence why I'm reaching out to anyone here with extensive Indy or Dracula knowledge, if only to rule those films out at the least. Or, better yet, to present a film where it did come from.

Thanks for your time, heres to leanring more,
-J

 

[JoshuaV]

Picture of the noted "red wax", very faint but definitely there.

 

[Pascal Kurosawa]

Hmmm... for my understanding this style doesn't match with the "Last Crusade" Grail Temple. Everything there was about western christian knights. And your prop looks more than a southern design like North Africa, Near East, Arabia,...

...but of cause this could be the reason for that could be a prop build for Last Crusade which get no screen time.

 

[JoshuaV]

Hmmm... for my understanding this style doesn't match with the "Last Crusade" Grail Temple. Everything there was about western christian knights. And your prop looks more than a southern design like North Africa, Near East, Arabia,...

...but of cause this could be the reason for that could be a prop build for Last Crusade which get no screen time.

Thanks for your feedback! I think this was trying to mimic older 15th or 16th Century busts of either the Madonna or Mary Magdalne, perhaps even Sybil seen here in these examples most Ren era art depict both figures in draping cloth is hooded coverings. It is rare to have a band but not uncommon. Though it definitely doesn't have the same detail as the Knight sculpts in the main entryway of the Grail Altar, so I believe your correct in that it was assigned to set dressing if not in this film then in any other film it was apart of.

I do like your observations of it being North African/Arabian as well. This would also make sense being most templar lore was intertwined with Middle Eastern lore most notable during the Holy Wars for possession of Jerusalem. That said, I would love to see any suggestions for more Arabian based films this might fit better into.
My Best,
-J

 

[Pascal Kurosawa]

Thanks for your feedback! I think this was trying to mimic older 15th or 16th Century busts of either the Madonna or Mary Magdalne, perhaps even Sybil[...] most templar lore was intertwined with Middle Eastern lore

For a historical point of view I agree. But keep in mind that in this film in the grail temple nothing was shown with any connections to women or middle eastern. It is more about lions, knights and "churchmen".

That said, I would love to see any suggestions for more Arabian based films this might fit better into.

Hmmm... from new the big Blockbuster Films "Kingdom of Heaven" comes in my mind.

 

[JoshuaV]

For a historical point of view I agree. But keep in mind that in this film in the grail temple nothing was shown with any connections to women or middle eastern. It is more about lions, knights and "churchmen".

Yes and no, the Grail Temple and the grail itself was located in "The Valley of the Crescent Moon" which is a clever nod to middle eastern Muslim practices who utilize Crescent Moon symbolism. From a location standpoint, the temple itself was filmed at the Jordan Temple in Petra. The actual history of that temple of course tossed aside and reassigned for the movies own Grail lore.

As far as women, again the Madonna (Mary Mother of ******) is featured throughout the film via paintings and relics or windows which can be seen in one of the main Medieval Paintings in Professor Henry's sacked home, to I believe in one of the pages of the grail diary, and she might also be among the stone reliefs in the main Grail room featured with what I imagine are the twelve followers of ******.

So while your correct in that this isn't the main driving theme from the art department for the film, its isn't completely absent from the theme either. Again, the art department usually works with broad strokes, so unless there is distinct direction from the producers and director to feature key themes, the broad stroke theme of Last Crusade was the Crusades and Christian Lore as a whole. That lore includes both Middle Eastern Lore for the Crusades and the Madonna, Mary Magdalne, Sybil, and so on concerning the larger story of ******.

That said, I'm happy to sign off on Crusade, hence why Dracula is also listed here. But again, I have yet to see alternative films listed to look into. And being the shop I aquired this from has dealt in movie props in the past, I have their sole verbal account of the props origin. So the shop and dealers past history in movie prop acquisition works as a loose temporary provenance. At least until, I can find a film that clearly shows the prop, or BTW photos from any of the Indy films or Dracula that show the prop was placed as a background item. Believe me, I'm looking lol.

Thanks again for your time
-J

 

[JoshuaV]

For a historical point of view I agree. But keep in mind that in this film in the grail temple nothing was shown with any connections to women or middle eastern. It is more about lions, knights and "churchmen".



Hmmm... from new the big Blockbuster Films "Kingdom of Heaven" comes in my mind.

View attachment 1288781

Just saw your edits, Kingdom of Heaven is a good candidate. They are already in Jerusalem and in the temple so much of the décor does reflect classical Christian lore. I'll do a rough check to see if anything pops out from the BG.
My Best~