Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c16.46

c16.46

A significant fact of terracotta art-history is the existence of figurines in each period showing foreign influence. For example, there is a limited group of figurines datable to the late Śuṅga and early Kuṣāṇa periods showing Parthian influence, and found at such remote sites as Basārh, Rājghāṭ, Kosam, Mathurā and Ahichchhatrā. The presence of wings on shoulders has been noticed in a limited number of similar figures at Basārh, Kosam and Mathurā. A second group shows female figures with a special kind of swaddling drapery with heavy folds covering the whole body and concealing even the two arms, a feature seen in some figurines at Seleucia.¹ A typical specimen comes from Patna (ht. 5½")². The complete figure is pressed out of a mould and its ornamental decoration is practically nil. The head with a pointed top-knot of hair is covered by a veil (odhni) that conceals the bust, the breasts and the front part completely. The ears have prominent discular rings and the wrists a pair of flowery bangles, the ornaments otherwise being sparse. Only a limited number of specimens are known from remote sites like Mathurā, Ahichchhatrā and Patna.