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HOME :
Asian Art :
Asian Art/ Hk : Slip-Painted Terracotta Bowl
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Slip-Painted Terracotta Bowl - LO.575
Origin: Central Asia
Circa: 3000
BC
to 2000
BC
Dimensions:
3.5" (8.9cm) high
x 6" (15.2cm) wide
Collection: Asian Art
Medium: Terracotta
Additional Information: Hong-Kong
£2,000.00
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 3706 IV 3707
- (LO.575)
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