Art

A carnelian bead found at Harappa artificially colored with white lines and circles using a special bleaching technique developed by the ancient Indus inhabitants. For more information read Kenoyer and Vidale's paper Carnelian Bead Production in Khambat, India: An Ethnoarchaeological Study. See also Single Bead Pot (Collection). >

Seated faience monkey figurine or amulet from Mohenjo-daro. Its broken feet suggest that it was once attached to another object, possibly a second monkey as in the Triple Monkey Figurine. Molded and carved. See also Monkey Figurine from Harappa >

Although there are fewer male than female figurines to be found at Indus sites, these terracotta males from Harappa give some sense of the principles underlying their representations. Shari Clark writes: "After many decades of research, the Indus Civilization is still something of an enigma -- an ancient civilization with a writing system that still awaits convincing decipherment, monumental architecture whose function still eludes us, no monumental art, a puzzling decline, and little evidence of the identity of its direct descendants. In a civilization extending over an area so vast, we expe… >

Humped bull figurine from Mohenjo-daro with molded head that is twisted to the side, and a mold used to make the head. The legs were made separated rather than being joined together. Hand formed body and attached head. Eyes are carved with appliqué pupils as on the large hollow bull figurines. Material (Figurine and mold): terra cotta. Figurine – Dimensions: 5.23 cm height, 8.59 cm length, 2.92 cm width Mohenjo-daro, MD 832. Mold – Dimensions: 4.4 cm height, 3.7 cm length, 3.2 cm width. Mohenjo-daro, MD 1634. See also Seal with Two-Horned Zebu Bull. >

"The Lothal craftsmen exhibited originality of thinking and great resourcefulness. As an example we may mention the new style of earthenware with animal motifs which are more realistic than those on the Indus valley pottery," writes excavator S.R. Rao. >

Black steatite wig from late Period 3C deposits in Trench 43 found at Harappa. This small stone hairpiece, here displayed on a modern clay mannequin, may have been set on an alabaster head like similar pieces found in western Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Southern Central Asia. >

"Indus beadmakers have the distinction of producing the longest and most slender beads of carnelian in the world, prior to the advent of diamond drilling," (J.M. Kenoyer). Chanhu-daro has provided the most data about the manufacture of these long carnelian beads, seen here in a necklace or belt from Mohenjo-daro's DK Area. It could take weeks of intense labor to create one bead, some nearly 5 inches long, with much breakage along the way. See also Dorothy Mackay's article Finds at Chanhu-daro. >

A painted dish of a pedestaled vessel from Harappa found in 1993. The painted design includes two peacocks and a sacred tree. Mark Kenoyer writes: "Painted dish portion from a dish-on-stand. The black-on-red painted decoration is arranged in panels that are divided into four sections. Two peacocks are depicted on one side, and a many-branched tree with short leaves is painted on the opposite panel section. Between these two motifs are multiple lines of loops with circle-and-dot designs and hatching which totally fill all of the empty space. In the center of the dish is a geometric design with… >

It might be nice to step into the new year with the figure of a dancer, for dancing is something - there is every indication from the dancing girl to this - that the ancient Indus people took very seriously. >

"I saw a herd of unicorns today. I write this in full possession of my senses." So begins the short story The Unicorn Expedition by the great Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray. A Professor Shanku story from the early 1960s, one of a series which reflect "my love of [Jules] Verne and [H.G.] Wells and [Sir Arthur] Conan Doyle whose works I read as a schoolboy," wrote Ray. Like anything by him, it is charming and effortless and rich and rich and starts in Mohenjo-daro. >