A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c16.s6: Section VI. Copper Vessels
A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c16.s6
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Section VI. Copper Vessels
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Although domestic utensils of copper, bronze, or other alloys of copper have been used in India from time immemorial, ancient examples are extremely rare. The most noteworthy is the copper water-pot (*loṭā*) discovered in 1857 in a chamber in a Buddhist building, apparently a *stūpa*, at Gundlā (Kundlah) in the Kullū subdivision of the Kāngrā District, Panjāb. The vessel, quite ordinary in form, is remarkable for the band of engraving carried round the body, which represents a prince, apparently Gautama Buddha as Prince Siddhārtha, riding in a four-horsed chariot preceded by musicians and followed by horsemen and an elephant with a rider. The style closely resembles that of the early sculptures at Bharhut, Sānchī, and Bhājā, and the approximate date of 100 b. c. may be assigned to the work. The date, a. d. 200–300, suggested by Sir G. Birdwood and entered on the label on the reproduction at South Kensington is much too late. The original is in the British Museum.²
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² Described and figured by Birdwood, *Industrial Arts of India*, p. 154, Pl. XII; Burgess, *A. S. W. I.*, vol. iv, p. 6.