The Age of the Imperial Guptas c9.158

c9.158

Bassi-relievi in terracotta are still very rare. We must not take into consideration the hundreds of thousands terracotta plaques discovered at Bodh-Gaya, Nālandā, etc., where they were left as votive offerings by Buddhist pilgrims. Beginning with the plaque which figures the cover of the Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society, in which Kharoshthi has been used, down to the 12th century A.D., these plaques were cast in wooden or metal moulds and turned out by thousands. Some of them certainly exhibit superior moulding but as a class they cannot be called objects of arts.