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Asian Art :
Asian Art/ Hk : Slip-Painted Terracotta Vessel
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Slip-Painted Terracotta Vessel - SF.176
Origin: Central Asia
Circa: 2000
BC
to 3000
BC
Dimensions:
5.25" (13.3cm) high
x 7.75" (19.7cm) wide
Collection: Asian
Medium: Terracotta
£4,500.00
Location: Great Britain
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| Description |
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The Indus Valley civilization was rediscovered
in 1920-21 when engraved seals were
unearthed in the Punjab province of Pakistan
at a site called Harappa, a name which is
often used to describe the civilization as a
whole. Subsequent excavations at Harappa
revealed the size and complexity of this
ancient city. Other sites were unearthed as
well along the banks of the Indus River,
including the equally large city of
Mohenjodaro. Through archaeological and
historical research, we can now say for
certain that a highly developed urban
civilization flourished in the Indian
subcontinent over five thousand years ago.
Though the Indus Valley script remains
undeciphered, the numerous seals, statuary,
and pottery discovered during excavations,
not to mention the urban ruins, have enabled
scholars to construct a reasonably plausible
account of the Indus Valley civilization.
Some kind of centralized state, and certainly
fairly extensive town planning, is suggested
by the layout of the great cities of Harappa
and Mohenjodaro. The same kind of burnt
brick appears to have been used in the
construction of buildings in cities that were
several hundred miles apart. The weights and
measures also show a very considerable
regularity, suggesting that these disparate
cities spread out across a vast desert shared
a common culture. The Indus Valley people
domesticated animals, and harvested various
crops, such as cotton, sesame, peas, barley,
and cotton. Indus Valley seals have been
excavated in far away cities such as Sumer,
suggesting that a wealthy merchant class
existed, engaged in extensive trading
throughout the subcontinent and the Near
East.
Other than the archaeological ruins of
Harappa and Mohenjodaro, these seals
provide the most detailed clues about the
character of the Indus Valley people. Bulls
and elephants appear on these seals, but the
horned bull, most scholars agree, should not
be taken to be congruent with Nandi, for the
horned bull appears in numerous Central
Asian figures as well. The women portrayed
on the seals are shown with elaborate
coiffures, sporting heavy jewelry, suggesting
that the Indus Valley people were an urbane
people with cultivated tastes and a refined
aesthetic sensibility. A few thousand seals
have been discovered in Indus Valley cities,
showing some 400 pictographs: too few in
number for the language to have been
ideographic, and too many for the language
to have been phonetic.
IV 3711 IV 3712 IV 3713
- (SF.176)
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