A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c8.69

c8.69

Northern India is full of examples of the style, ancient, mediaeval, and modern, mostly in stone, but occasionally in brick. The oldest brick specimen in preservation sufficiently good to allow of the recognition of the style is that at Bhītargāon in the Cawnpore District (*ante*, p. 23), now believed to be of early date, possibly of the fourth century. Another well-preserved ancient brick temple, referred doubtfully to the eighth century, stands at Kōnch in S. Bihār.² There is reason to believe (as already observed, *ante*, p. 23) that the transition from wooden to stone architecture was often made through brick, and that the scarcity of old brick buildings is due to the facility with which the material could be utilized for other constructions. The decorations of brick buildings were carried out in terra-cotta and carved, not merely stamped, bricks. Such bricks of good design are often seen built into later structures. The art of carving brick appears to be extinct.