Since the Original Series, Star Trek has been the gold standard of innovation and creativity in the Sci-Fi genre. From diversity in casting to visionary technology. The themes of the stories and fantastic design are also hallmarks of the franchise.
Sometimes whimsy made the biggest impact. Who could forget the Tri-Dimensional Chess game, which was purely a set piece with no actual rules attached to it. First appearing in the second pilot episode, “Where no Man Has Gone Before”, the game made such an impression that it appeared in other episodes throughout the Star Trek universe and ultimately had real rules of play created in the 70s.
Offered here is another of those mysterious, mythical Trek objects, from The Next Generation. Featured in the season six episode, “The Chase”, Captain Picard’s former mentor, Professor Galen, gifts him a Third Dynasty Kurlan naiskos, a large terracotta figurine statue containing a series of smaller figures in its same likeness.
The 12,000-year-old artifact from the extinct Kurlan civilization became one of Picard’s prized possessions which later adorned the captain’s ready room on the Enterprise-D. This 3” x 2” x 3” naiskos figurine was one of the small types contained in the larger ceramic vessel. Upon inspection, the figure bears the likeness of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, which was an inside joke among ST:TNG crew.
Objects revered by popular lead characters in film and television, be it props, weapons or costume pieces, are highly sought after by collectors (Charles Foster Kane’s “Rosebud” sled from Citizen Kane, Conan’s “Atlantean” sword from Conan the Barbarian, and Dorothy’s iconic Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz). A bonus aspect of this naiskos is that it will literally fit anywhere in your collection, on a bookshelf or desk, due to its small size!
Brian Chanes
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