Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c5.9

c5.9

PROVENANCE—Provenance and chronology form the main rafters of art edifice. They are rooted in factual data which should be carefully collected and considered in a study of Indian art. The find-places of most of the monuments and objects under study are usually known and recorded. In the case of sculptures and architectural pieces, the colour and formation of stone is a reliable guide. For example, in the Indus Valley white limestone of the Kirthar hills was used for making statuettes; in the Mauryan art hard-grained buff Chunar sandstone; in Kushāṇa art of Mathura red sandstone; in Gandhāra art bluish schist or slate-stone; in Gupta art reddish sandstone of local varieties; in Pāla art usually black basalt; in Chālukyan art yellowish sandstone; in the stūpas of Amaravati, Nagarjunakonda etc. local whitish limestone of the Andhra country which has often been described as marble.