Set of 10 bull figurines, modelled in terracotta
and painted in darker pigment over the snout,
the horns and the legs.
Terracotta figurines such as these ones have
been unearthed also at Mohenjo-daro and
Harappa, suggesting a commonality of style and
purpose throughout the Indus Valley during the
mature Harappan period (ca. 2600-2450 BCE).
Like many figurines datable to this period, the
front and back legs are joined together. In one
excavated example from Chanu-daro a hole was
poked in the belly, indicating that it would have
been attached to a stick for use as a puppet or a
small standard of the kind carried in the
processions depicted on some seals. In others,
the hole was indeed placed on the back of the
animal, thus suggesting an alternative function,
perhaps linked to music.
For a comparable example see:
J.Aruz ed, Art of the Ancient Cities, 2003:
no.276, p.390.
J.Kenoyer, Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley
Civilization, 1998.
