Cool thread, and you've already had some great examples. A few more things that come to mind:
The Narasimha avatar from Hindu tradition, where a "man-lion" emerges out of a pillar. See link for the wiki version of the story: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narasimha There are a number of local traditions about carved statues in temples coming to life (yalis - chimera-like creatures) and so on. Then there's Greek myth - beyond Pygmalion, there is Zeus as a shower of gold, the automata of Hephaestus, bronze man Talos, Pandora made from mud, Cadmus and the dragons teeth, and so on. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, there is the Genesis myth - the first man being sculpted from clay, and having life breathed into him. The Pueblo peoples of America have the legends of the Corn Woman. Cheers Divya Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
