About this objectSmall statuette thought to be of the Chinese Household Goddess Guanyin. This entered the collections of the Letchworth Museum with ten other 'Modern Chinese Objects' in 1954. The statuette was described in museum documentation as an 'idol', a word which is officially defined as 'a picture or object that people pray to as part of their religion'.
The use of images and objects as part of religions is common amongst many of the world's religions. However this can be a term which means different things to different people. In Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, 'Idols' are viewed with contempt and disapproval and branding something an Idol may be done with such disapproval and contempt in mind.