Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c11.168

c11.168

The bright polish on the Mauryan pillars and other objects of art and architecture has engaged the attention of scholars and some opine, as Spooner, that it was borrowed from Iran where its existence is undisputed; but it cannot be conveniently forgotten that the antiquity of bright polish is much greater in India than in Iran. We have already referred to a dozen terms from the Mahābhārata showing the enthusiasm in India about such a polish. But much older than the Sabhā Parva and more authentic is the testimony of the Āpastamba Śrauta Sūtra which enjoins the production of such polish (*ślakṣṇī karaṇaiḥ ślahkṣṇī-kurvanti*, ĀSS. 15. 3. 15) and even gives a recipe for doing it on ceramic ware (ĀSS. 15. 3. 16), its main feature being rubbing with abrasives and some lubricant. We know from the history of Indian pottery of three successive periods, viz. (i) Ochre-coloured Ware, (ii) Painted Grey Ware (c. 1200 B.C. 600 B.C.) and (iii) Northern Black Polished Ware (600 B.C.–200 B. C.). In this series the third class of pottery is found all over India at Mauryan and pre-Mauryan sites and the ware has a highly lustrous polish, black, violet or variegated. This shows that in the history of country’s art there was a period of several centuries in which there was a widespread movement for preparing a glistening mirror like surface on the articles in popular use. The reference to it in the Āpastamba Śrauta Sūtra agrees quite well both with the antiquity and the prevalence of the popular fondness for the glistening lustrous polish. The Bṛihat Kalpa Sūtra Bhāshya (Vol. 1, *gāthās*, 471-472) also refer to this polish on a special kind of pottery ware which cannot be anything else except the N. B. P. Ware. In the beginning the use of such luxurious pottery was forbidden to the Jaina monks but the rules were later on relaxed. Thus we have firm proof that the technical skill of producing this polish was known not only in the Pre-Mauryan times but also before the Achaemenian art was born as shown by Āpastamba Śrauta Sūtra. Moreover this was not the prerogative of Mauryan court art only, but the use of such polish was much more broadbased and employed on many classses of art objects. For example, on semi-precious stone beads, on crystal reliquary from the Piprahvā Stūpa, on the two Yaksha statues from Pāṭaliputra and also on the Yakshi statue from the Dīdārganj and the Tīrthaṅkara torsos from Lohānipur, the latter two also from Patna. It cannot be admitted that any one of these was produced under court patronage; but this kind of polish was a part of the art style of the period and was in common use. We also find it on several Mauryan heads found at Sarnath.