An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c23.s3.15

v1.c23.s3.15

One of the best examples is an excellently carved ivory comb found at Sirkap from 1st century A.D. levels (*AI*, 4, 1947-8, p. 79). Half-elliptical in shape with a rectangular section and slightly raised rim, it has 116 projecting teeth, the end ones being thicker than the rest. On one side is the figure of a heavily ornamented seminude woman loosely clad in a *sāri* reclining on her right palm on a pillow with beaded borders. Near the head of the female figure is seated a dwarfish male figure in loin-cloth and with folded legs; the remaining portion of the field is filled up with rows of short notches representing an ornamental cushion. The other side of the comb is divided into four zones by three vertical lines; the first zone has a rather crudely depicted figure of a pouncing lion; the second has an ornamental design perhaps representing an altar or the front of a building (?); the third shows a treading elephant with its trunk, head and body decorated with notches possibly representing trappings and the space in its front, between the forelegs and over its back, filled with rosettes; in the fourth is drawn an inverted conch-shell. According to A. Ghosh ‘the sensuous pose and features of the lady are foreign to the contemporary art of Gandhāra and suggest Mathura as a possible source for the comb,’ even though ‘a general resemblance to the Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda sculptures is also fairly pronounced’ (*AI*, 4, 1947-8, pp. 79-80). Ghosh has also drawn attention to the ivory plaques and a comb from Begram which are later in date but have a family likeness with the Sirkap comb suggesting ‘a common Indian origin, possibly in the Mathura region’.