The Age of the Imperial Guptas c9.157

c9.157

Our knowledge of Gupta terracottas is yet in its infancy. Much has been discovered though very little has been preserved. In the last century, hundreds of bricks stamped with the name of Kumāragupta, were discovered at Bhitari, near Saiyadpur in the Ghazipur district, and removed to the Museum at Lucknow, where many of them are still preserved. From the form of the writing it appears that these bricks were apparently used for constructing some religious edifice in the reign of Kumāragupta I. They are box-moulded and much larger than modern tiles. A carved brick was recently discovered at Bilsad in the Etah district bearing on it concentric circles filled with ornamental foliage and arabesque. This is the most elaborately decorated tile of the Gupta period that has ever been discovered.