An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c21.s6: 16.6 Faience
An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c21.s6
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16.6 Faience
v1.c21.s6.1
Faïence (French, from Faenza in Italy) is a highly siliceous, granular, artifical material. Used in France for decorative earthenware, as distinct from tableware, during the 16th to 18th centuries, the term has come to be adopted for the material of highly siliceous, enamelled and decorated archaeological objects of coarse fabric found in pre-Harappa [4.8], Harappa [=√ ] and later times mainly for the manufacture of beads and bangles.
v1.c21.s6.2
The body of the objects has a coarse granulated texture with angular grains of quartz embedded in a clear matrix. Their physical parameters show that they have a concoidal fracture and a greasy lustre, with a hardness of 6 to 7 and a specific gravity of about 2·8. Traces of glaze and enamel (opaque glaze) are sometimes seen on the surface. They have different colours-white, green, greenish-white and bluish-green with green and blue glaze. There is a very high percentage of silica (above 80%), a small quantity of lime and a very low proportion of alkalies, with oxides of copper and iron used as tinctorial agents. The raw material is generally curshed quartz or very fine angular quartz sand. It seems that powdered silica or quartz sand was mixed with a little lime, moulded into shape and fired at a high temperature, when the fusible fluxes (lime, oxides of iron and copper and alkalies) flowed through the sand grains and embedded in a clear matrix. Some objects are decorated with a soda-lime glaze of green or blue colour. They body material was also sometimes coloured. Microscopic examination shows that the objects were sometimes finished smooth with a sharp instrument, as evidenced by regularly oriented striations and scratches on the surface.
v1.c21.s6.3
Some of the more significant early sites yielding faïence objects, mostly beads, bangles and other ornaments are: KALIBANGAN, both pre-Harappa and Harappa levels; Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, ROPAR, LOTHAL, DESALPUR, ROJDI, CHANDIGARH, SURKOTADA, DAULATPUR and ALAMGIRPUR, all Harappa; SANGHOL, late Harappa; and AHAR², NAVDATOLI, NEVASA, all Chalcolithic [4.14].
v1.c21.s6.4
The analysis of objects from Mohenjo-daro (fragment of an object, light blue in colour, with holes and cavities in section) and from Harappa (fragment of a thick bangle, light blue in colour, close and compact structure with many blow-holes and cavities) yields the following results respectively: SiO₂—88·00, 86.00; Fe₂O₃—1·60, 1·60; Al₂O₃—4·07, 4·20; CaO—1·80, 2·60; MgO—1·53, 1·20; CuO—1·66, 1·80; alkalies—1·34, 2·60; total in both cases—100·00.
v1.c21.s6.5
A comparative analysis of faïence objects from a few sites of the Harappa culture and of the early historical RANG MAHAL culture [4.18.2] in the SARASVATI VALLEY shows no material difference in their composition in spite of the enormous chronological gap: Harappa—BAROR (fragment of a thick bangle, pale blue colour with holes and cavities in section, blow-holes and specks of blue glaze on surface) and CHAK 75 (fragment of a bangle with practically the same physical features as the preceding): respectively SiO₂—85·34, 84·32; Fe₂O₃—1·99, 1·43; Al₂O₃—3·77, 4·98; CaO—1·95, 1·70; MgO—0·80, 1·05; CuO—1·56 and 1·96; alkalies—4·59, 4·56; total in both cases—100·00. Two specimens (both fragments of bangles, light-blue in colour, with cavities and holes in section and specks of green glaze) from BHAGWANSAR-1, a Rang Mahal site, have the following compositions: SiO—86·45, 86·84; Fe₂O₃—1·47, 1·31; Al₂O₃—4·45, 4·42; CaO—1·74, 1·91; MgO—0·60, 0·49; CuO—1·60, 1·71; alkalies—3·69, 3·31; total in both cases—100·00.
v1.c21.s6.6
For sites see respective entries in vol. II.—B.B. LAL (Dr)