Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c7.s5.31

c7.s5.31

Shell (Saṅkha) — Its supply was obtained from nearer home in Persian Gulf rather than the Gulf of Manar. Saṅkha articles both for inlay and ornaments were as popular as they are even body. The shapes and designs of inlay show (i) Petals, a common shape used for flower designs laid against a circular centre to form the corona (ii) Stepped design, it does not appear on painted pottery at Mohenjo-daro although popular at Nal in north Baluchistan and on the painted ware of the First Period at Susa. It is an open question whether this motif was intended to represent a *ziggurat* i.e. multi-terraced temple, or the battlement motif on citadel walls conspicuous in Achaemenian art and found also at Bharhut, Sanchi and Mathura. It may be the same as the *Pañcha-paṭṭika* motif of early Buddhist literature. (iii) Cross—It is in two forms, one with arms of equal length found in many countries, and the other with one of the arms double the other. Specimens of the latter have been found besides the Indus Valley in Elam and early Babylonia. (iv) Rosettes, a fairly common design scattered in Iran, Mesopotamia and Egypt and continued throughout the historic art of India. (v) A two-foil arch design, in simple or complex form, is peculiar to the Indus Valley and not known outside. It is marked on the sides of antelopes and also of the rhinoceros (vi) Fret design - these are circles with their interior frecked in various ways. This motif is unknown at Susa and in Mesopotamia. (vii) Eye-design, a motif found in shell inlay and on painted pottery. Some inlay pieces of lozenge shape (*shakarpārā* or *larfidār*) are also known. (viii) *Pipal* leaf—only one inlay piece was found, although the design is popular on painted pottery. (ix) Animal figurines in shell or any other inlay are extremely rare at Mohenjo-daro, although common in Babylonia.