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Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c28.s8: Metals and Alloys in Icons of Ancient India

Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c28.s8

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Metals and Alloys in Icons of Ancient India

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We have discussed earlier the wonderful cast bronzes of Mohenjo-Daro and Dāimābād. The gap between the first (Harappan) urbanisation in India and the second (Mahājanapada era starting from eighth-seventh century BC in the Gaṅgā-Yamunā valley) has remained an enigma, and in this context Neogi (1917, 1979: 36) commented that “India missed a Bronze Age since the use of iron was known from Vedic times”. Since 1917 when Neogi wrote these lines, archaeological discoveries have shown us that India did not altogether miss the Bronze Age. The Post-Harappan chalcolithic cultures of the Eastern and the Peninsular India yielded many artefacts of alloyed copper. The Peninsular chalcolithic culture culminated with Tinnevelly bronze (of the fourth-third century BC period) which we have mentioned earlier. In the Northern India, Atrañjikhera produced artefacts not only of iron but also of copper alloyed with tin, lead and even zinc. Prakash and Rawat (1965) analysed antiquities from Kauśāmbī which were made of copper and bronze; the bronze objects contained high proportions of tin varying between 19.1 to 26.5 per cent. At Taxila, distilled zinc was used for the first time in the world to produce the famous brass vase; the Bhir Mound brass and bronze objects are dated fifth-fourth century BC, well before Alexander’s invasion.

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One of the reasons why we do not have many icons of the pre-Christian era is that the tradition itself of making icons whether of metal, stone or of terracotta, started somewhat late in ancient India during the spread of Buddhism. There is a collection of bronzes in the Madras Government Museum, particularly the Amarāvatī group of Buddhist bronzes datable to pre- or post-Christian era (not later than second century AD). We find Amarāvatī style bronzes from Badulla (now in Colombo Museum), several places in Malaya Peninsula and one third century AD Buddha bronze from Dong Duong in Vietnam (now in Hanoi). Nāgārjunakoṇḍa excavation have yielded a few metal figures of the period of Ikṣvākus who succeeded the Sātavāhanas in the Krishna valley towards the end of the second century AD. It was in the later half of the second century AD that the alchemist Nāgārjuna was experimenting on yellow brass as a substitute of gold in the Sātavāhana empire.

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A male copper figure from Sirkap, Taxila was made in first century AD. This was followed by the Gāndhāra images made of copper in solid cast. A group of bronzes from Chausa near Buxur in Bihar (now in the Patna Museum) has been dated by U.P. Shah (quoted by Swarnakamal, 1980: 27) to a period from second to fourth century AD. Belonging to the Kuṣāṇa age, these images show nude standing Tīrthaṅkaras.

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The Gāndhāra-Mathurā tradition of sculpture strongly influenced the iconic traditions of the Gupta Period. With the Sultanganj copper (some alloying elements might be present) Buddha, earlier discussed in chapter 10, the glory of the icon-casting tradition of Harappan India was at last revived, with less secular and more spiritual overtones. Swarnakamal (1980) has given several examples of pre-Gupta Period icons from Gujarat which we would discuss later. The bronze Brahmā, a colossal image (gilt bronze inlaid with silver) from Mirpur Khas, Sind, now in the Karachi Museum, is one of the earliest known examples of the Western Indian sculpture, closely following the Gupta traditions. During the Gupta Period, the literary tradition of recording the metal fabrication and casting techniques was initiated; we have reviewed this literature earlier.

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The historical survey of metallic icons in ancient India may be either chronological or focusing on regional variations; the best method would be a combination of the two approaches. There are many noticeable trends of the proportions of the constituent elements such as tin, lead and zinc in copper-based alloys varying with the passage of time and change of location in ancient India. These were dictated by market demands; emergence of new styles and technologies, and above all availability of the raw materials. In the studies on the said topic, one must avoid erroneous assumptions such as the one on ‘late arrival’ of zinc in ancient India. This point needs some elaboration.

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In the earlier chapter 18 on zinc we have shown how we have gathered recent knowledge on the early emergence of zinc and brass in the pre-Christian era of ancient India. This knowledge was not available when Swarnakamal (1980) wrote his famous book on the metallic art of Gujarat. Thus, he wrote (1980: 145) what must now be contradicted: “The Nalanda copper and bronze technology developed so much so that it finally led to the discovery of a copper-zinc alloy, and towards the development of a brass technology”. The suggestions of Werner (1972), endorsed by Swarnakamal (1980: 145-46), that zinc-alloying of copper was not done in the earlier period of Indian history and that “it was possible to distinguish ancient from modern bronze, because the quantity of zinc increased in the composition with progress of time”, cannot be accepted in any unqualified sense. Although there was a spurt of zinc technology and use of brass in ancient India after the thirteenth century AD, there had been a similar spurt around sixth-seventh century AD before the tradition at Nalanda, and evidences from the Zawar mines and Taxila attest that there must have been mini-spurts in the pre-Christian era as well.

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By accepting Werner’s proposition to determine the antiquity of an icon in terms of its zinc content, Swarnakamal (1980: 90) might have made a mistake. He disagreed with U.P. Shah’s (1956 and 1959) early dating (5th-11th century AD) of the Akota bronzes and commented that the high zinc bronzes or brass icons were made much later. We would rather support U.P. Shah who based his conclusions on the palaeography of the inscriptions. Bisht and Jain (1981-82)

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have provided evidences of Pre-Nalanda brass icons in India. Seven standing Buddhas were received by the Archaeological Survey of India as a treasure trove from a field in the district of East-Nimar, Madhya Pradesh. Two images were analysed and found to be made of brass with 26-27 per cent zinc. These images were dated fifth-sixth century AD. Metallographic study confirmed that these statues were cast in a hot mould by the lost wax process under normal cooling rates and as such no annealing had been done on the object. The findings of Bisht et al. (1981-82) confirm the hazard of dating an icon on the basis of its zinc content or elemental analysis.

Metallic Art-Traditions in Gujarat

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In his otherwise excellent work Swarnakamal (1980) has surveyed the traditions of Gujarat in producing metallic art objects and icons. A summary of the analytical data obtained by him is presented in Table 20.4 which clearly depicts the long, almost unbroken tradition across the centuries of casting copper, bronze and brass icons in Western India. Apart from chemical estimation of the percentages of major elements, the spectroscopic data show the presence of trace elements hinting at the kinds of ore or raw material from which the metals were extracted.

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Rosdi in Central Gujarat is a Harappan site which produced mostly copper artefacts significantly contaminated with lead and zinc as impurities suggesting that the ore came from the Zn/Pb bearing Southern Aravalli area. Tin was deliberately added specially in the ring to assist casting at lower temperature. The Harappan artefacts from Rangpur, Gujarat were also mostly made of copper and bronze, the latter containing 2-11 per cent tin. Bangles contained higher percentages of tin. Several samples contained nickel varying in percentage from 0.2 to as much as 5.9. Nickel was derived from the ore. (Lal, 1962-63) A Somnath axe (29.8 cm long) was made of bronze: copper alloyed with 12.8 per cent tin, 1.21 per cent lead and containing 2.57 per cent iron. Metallographic analysis of the Rosdi ring (Swarnakamal, 1980: 42) showed that this was carefully cast and subjected to mild working when the dendritic structure was broken.

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The four pre-Gupta Period icons found in Gujarat and described by Swarnakamal (vide items 3-6 in Table 20.4) illustrate that during second-fourth century AD the province was a melting pot for intermingling of different art traditions — Gāndhāra, Mathurā, Amarāvatī and Kuṣāṇa or Indo-Pārthian styles. The Fasting Śākyamuni (no. 3) was made of pure soft copper. Absence of sulphur and core markings or dendrite and presence of traces of silicon and iron suggest that it was made of native copper like the Zanskar Valley material in Taxila as reported by Sana Ulla. (Swarnakamal, 1980: 48-51) The rough finish Analysis of Metallic Items and Icons from Ancient and Medieval Gujarat

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| Sl. No. | Site | Item | Elemental Percentages | | | | Impurities |
| | | | Cu | Sn | Zn | Pb | Fe | |
| 1. | Rosdi, Central Gujarat, Harappan Site | Chisel, Celt, rod, bangle | 95.5 - 98.5 | up to 1.23 | up to 1.54 | up to 1.20 | — | Fe, Ni, As, Bi, Ag, Si, Mg |
| 2. | Rangpur | Ring Bangle | 88.6 86.4 | 11.0 11.1 | — | — | — | Fe, Bi, Ag, Si, Mg, Ni 1.8 %, Pb, As |
| **Pre-Classical Gupta Age** | | | | | | | | |
| 3. | — | Fasting Śākyamuni Gāndhāra Style 2nd-4th century AD | 99.0 | — | — | — | — | Si, Mg, Fe |
| 4. | — | Meditative Buddha Mathurā Style 2nd-3rd century AD | 81.9 | 15.8 | — | 0.8 | — | Fe, S |
| 5. | — | Two Dancing Girls Amarāvatī style. 2nd century AD | 76.6 | 15.8 | — | 6.4 | — | Al, Fe, Zn |
| 6. | — | Indo-Pārthian Figure carrying Flower-container, Kuṣāṇa style. 2nd-3rd century AD | 88.6 | 0.13 | 7.6 | 2.49 | — | Fe, Sb |
| **6th century AD** | | | | | | | | |
| 7. | Akota, Central Gujarat | Jīvantasvāmī 30 x 7.8cm | 68.6 | 8.7 | 3.5 | 13.2 | 1.9 | Al, Mo, Ag, Bi |

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| 8. | Akota | Ṛṣabhanāth or Ādināth* | 78.5 | 0.9 | 10.4 | 9.0 | — | Fe, Ag, Bi, Si, Mg |
| 9. | Akota | Jīvantasvāmi 40.5 x 11.2 cm | 73.4 | 5.53 | 3.56 | 9.82 | 4.91 | Ag, Cd, Au, Sb, Bi, Mg |
| 10. | Akota | Ambikā installed in the Vidyādhara Kuḷa* | 76.7 | 1.61 | 16.32 | 4.04 | — | Fe, Ag, Bi |
| **6th-7th century AD** | | | | | | | | |
| 11. | Mahudi | Pārśvanātha | 89.3 | 0.95 | — | 9.6 | — | Zn, Fe, Ag, Bi |
| 12. | Akota | North Gujarat Pedestal of a Jain image | 77.4 | 8.1 | — | 10.5 | — | Zn, Fe, Al, Ag, Cd, Au, Sb |
| **7th century AD** | | | | | | | | |
| 13. | Mahudi | Ṛṣabhanātha | 66.0 | 5.9 | 12.8 | 2.5 | 1.00 | Ni 3.8 Al 6.7? |
| 14. | Akota | Standing Sarasvati with halo* | 80.0 | 8.1 | 6.5 | 3.4 | 2.00 | Ni, Al, Cd |
| 15. | Akota | Tritirthaka of Pārśvanātha 22 x 11 cm | 80.8 | 5.3 | 7.4 | 2.2 | — | Fe, Ni, Al |
| 16. | Akota | Standing Pārśvanātha* | 73.2 | 6.6 | 12.8 | 4.5 | 1.7 | Al, Ag, Cd, Mg |
| 17. | Akota | Unidentified Jina* 26.7 x 16.4 cm | 78.3 | 1.9 | 10.1 | 3.8 | 3.2 | Al 1.5. Ni 0.3., Cd |
| **7th-8th century AD** | | | | | | | | |
| 18. | Mahudi | Tirthankara with Yakṣa-Yakṣi | 82.0 | 11.2 | 3.5 | 2.0 | — | Fe, Ni, Al, Bi |
| 19. | Akota | Tritirthaka of Pārśva-nāth 20.8 x 12.7 cm | 88.8 | 3.9 | — | 3.6 | 1.9 | Ni, Cd, Mg |
| 20. | Akota | Ambikā on Lion | 79.7 | 12.7 | 3.9 | 2.6 | — | Fe, Ni, Al |
| | | | | | | | | (Contd.) |

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| Sl. No. | Site | Item | Elemental Percentages | | | | Impurities |
| | | | Cu | Sn | Zn | Pb | Fe | |
| **8th century AD** | | | | | | | | |
| 21. | Akota | Sarasvati without Halo* | 85.5 | 3.2 | 6.7 | 2.6 | 1.9 | Al |
| 22. | Akota | Cāmaradharīṇī* | 73.2 | 2.2 | 10.7 | 11.3 | 1.4 | Fe, Al, Ag, Cd, Au, Sb, P, Mg |
| **8th-9th century AD** | | | | | | | | |
| 23. | Lilvadeva in Zalod, N.E. Gujarat | Caturviṃśati-Paṭṭa of Ādināth | 88.1 | 2.1 | — | 7.6 | — | Fe, Al |
| 24. | ” | Unidentified Jina | 81.6 | 5.9 | — | 5.9 | 2.2 | Al 2.1, Zn, Mg |
| 25. | ” | Pārśvanātha | 73.4 | 7.5 | — | 11.3 | 2.5 | Al 2.6 |
| **9th century AD** | | | | | | | | |
| 26. | Akota | Unidentified Jina* 34 x 10 cm | 72.7 | 5.7 | 6.8 | 11.2 | 1.95 | Ag, Bi, Si |
| **9th-10th century AD** | | | | | | | | |
| 27. | Akota | Mutilated Back Stela | 78.0 | 3.7 | 2.6 | 15.7 | — | Fe, Al, P |
| **11th century AD** | | | | | | | | |
| 28. | Lilvadeva | Pārśvanātha | 80.1 | 0.4 | 6.8 | 4.5 | 2.5 | Ni 4.2 |
| 29. | ” | Tirtirthaka of Pārśvanātha (AD 1037) | 69.9 | — | 16.9 | 9.9 | — | Fe, Sn, Al, Mg, Sb, Bi, P |
| 30. | Lilvadeva | Tirtirthaka of Ādinātha | 63.4 | — | 20.6 | 13.6 | — | Fe, Ni, Al, Sn, Ag, Mg, Sb, Bi |
| **Medieval Period** | | | | | | | | |
| 31. | Gujarat AD 1350 | Ambika | 68.4 | 1.6 | 18.5 | 9.5 | — | Fe, Ag, Bi |
| 32. | Gujarat AD 1480 | Model Temple with four doors 10 x 24. 5 cm | 68.6 | 0.2 | 28.9 | 1.6 | — | Fe, Mg, Bi |
| 33. | Gujarat AD 1485 | Viṣṇu-Nārāyaṇa | 58.9 | 0.5 | 36.8 | 2.1 | — | Fe, Al, Ag, Si, Mg, Bi |

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| 34. | Rajasthan 15th-16th century AD | Rajput Prince on Horse | 72.9 | 0.4 | 21.8 | 2.7 | 1.0 | Al 0.3, Ag, Mg |
| 35. | Gujarat AD 1554 | Kāl Bhairava | 76.7 | 1.2 | 13.8 | 6.3 | 1.5 | Al, Mg |
| 36. | Gujarat 17th century AD | Cauri-Bearer | 58.3 | 1.5 | 35.5 | 2.3 | — | Fe, Ni, Al, Ag, Cd, Si, Mg |
| 37. | Rajasthan 17th century AD | Dīpalakṣmī Rajput Girl | 58.8 | 0.9 | 33.2 | 4.5 | 0.8 | Al 1.6, Mg |
| 38. | Gujarat 18th century AD | Dīpalakṣmī | 52.8 | 1.1 | 39.9 | 2.9 | — | Fe, Al |
| 39. | Gujarat AD 1752 | Tirthankara-Seated | 62.3 | — | 36.0 | 0.5 | — | Fe, Ag, Bi |
| 40. | Nepal | Ṣaḍakṣarī Lokeśvara form of Avalokiteśvara | 60.5 | 2.75 | 35.3 | 2.37 | — | Fe, Ni, As, Au |

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∗ Note: Swarnakamal proposed somewhat later dates for these Akota icons; we however accept the earlier dates (in the table) as suggested by Shah.

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suggests that the image was probably cast in a sand mould like many other Gāndhāra metallic objects. The 18 cm high 13 cm wide pure copper image is of solid cast and reflects the strong Buddhist tradition. Reedy (1983) has quoted the Sāriputra text disapproving hollow casting: “If a statue is made with a hollow body, there will be strife and quarelling”.

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Both the Meditative Buddha of Mathurā style (No. 4) and the Amarāvatī style dancer pair (No. 5) belong to the same age and significantly contain the same percentage of tin. The latter however contains 6.4 per cent lead also which was a deliberate addition. We may recall that the Andhra Sātavāhanas and Kṣtrapas introduced lead coinage in the country. Swarnakamal (1980: 60-61) has drawn our attention to the object no. 6, an Indo-Pārthian figure assaying 7.6 per cent zinc, a Roman brass jar-handle found at Akota and a brass Atlas statuette recovered from Samalaji, and then wrongly concluded that these items, like the Taxilian brass, ‘came from outside India’. Such a conclusion must be rejected in view of our earlier discussions on zinc ore mining, zinc metal and brass artefacts in ancient India. (vide chapters 17 and 18)

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Swarnakamal has studied the bronze brass icons from different parts of Gujarat: North (Mahudi on the bank of Sabarmati), North-East (Lilvadeva in the Panchmahal district) and Central (Akota near Baroda). His results of chemical and spectrographic analysis of the principal icons, together with the respective dates as suggested by U.P. Shah (1956 and 1959) and other art scholars, have been cited in Table 20.4. We have discussed why the dates suggested by Swarnkamal are not acceptable by us. Banerjee (1982) has also doubted whether Swarnakamal’s proposition of dates would be universally acceptable.

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On the basis of the dates of the icons affixed by him, and which are at variance from those given by the art scholars, Swarnakamal reached certain general conclusions which may be quoted (1980: 165):

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The earliest metals used in making of artifacts, objects of self-adornment and worship were more or less pure copper, and rarely copper-tin alloy. The metal generally used during the Gupta Period was a kind of lead-bronze alloy, and in the post-Gupta periods (7th-8th centuries AD) it was copper-tin alloy. In the metal objects of the period ninth-fourteenth centuries AD, we find a transition from the use of copper-tin alloy to copper-tin-zinc alloy, which are known as zinc bronze, and thereafter to copper-zinc-lead alloy known as lead-brass. In the post-medieval period, particularly after fourteenth century AD, we find a marked transition from lead brass to real brass technology.

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We agree with him only partially. It is true that in the pre-Gupta and Gupta Period there was an aesthetic tendency to use pure copper for making icons (Fasting Śākyamuni, No. 3, Sultanganj Buddha etc.), and after fourteenth century the use of tin dwindled giving preference to zinc. But the situation between sixth-fourteenth century AD is not as simple as Swarnakamal has proposed. If he failed to find the use of zinc in the ancient Gujarat icons before ninth century AD, it is because he chose to ignore the earlier dates suggested by the epigraphers and art scholars. Regarding lead we do not find any intermission of its use across the centuries second-fourteenth century AD as suggested by the model given by Swarnakamal; the proportions of lead in the icons merely fluctuated.

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There might have been regional scarcities such as of lead in Akota of seventh century AD, of zinc in Lilvadeva during the period eighth-ninth century AD and of tin in Lilvadeva during eleventh century AD. Particular compositions could reflect comtemporary and local art styles apart from the availability/scarcity of the constituent metals. We do not find much use of tin in the Gujarat icons after tenth century AD, whereas this metal continued to be popular in South India as attested in the composition of Cola bronzes.

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In Gujarat there were tendencies for producing (i) zinc-free or low Zn lead bronze (Nos. 5, 12,19, 23-25) and (ii) tin-free or low Sn lead brass (Nos. 6, 8,10, 17, 28-31) but these tendencies were feeble and not restricted to one place or any sharply defined time period. Only a few samples (Nos. 9, 16 and 26) contained reasonable amounts (more than 3.5 %) of all the three metals. The percentage of lead never fell below 2 per cent. Low proportions of tin or lead might have been used to improve fluidity and the ease in deoxidation of copper melt. Thus Swarnakamal's claim that Gujarat introduced specific alloys such as zinc bronze, lead bronze, lead brass and actual brass in specific periods and locations cannot be supported on the basis of the presently available data; more data are essential before any firm conclusion can be reached on this point.

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The highlights of Swarnakamal's work has been the chemical, spectrographic and metallographic analyses of the Gujarat icons. The key metallographic observations made by him are summarised in Table 20. 5. In most of the samples lead globules remained as insoluble discrete phases, and where there was very little Sn or Zn, no dendrite-producing alloy phase was noticed. In many instances, slip and strain lines, flattened grains and broken dendrites provided evidences for hot or cold working by techniques such as light or heavy hammering. There were cases of cold working preceded or followed by annealing.

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Annealing was done below or at recrystallisation temperature. Twinned grains are pairs of identical grains, whose lattice structures are mirror images Metallography of Some Gujarat Icons

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| Sample No. in Table 20.4 | Discrete Phases | Evidence of Annealing or Heat-treatment | Evidence of Cold or Hot working |
| 7. | Lead (L) and Inter-metallic compounds (IC) | Annealing after casting | Slip and strain lines (SLSTL) and Flattened Grains (FG) suggest severe hammering or cold working |
| 8. | Lead (L) and Oxides (O) | Twin Grains (TG); annealing was done at Recrystallisation Temp. (RT) after cold working | Cold working |
| 9. | L at Grain Boundary (GB) | Annealing below RT | No evidence |
| 10. | — do — | — do — | — |
| 11. | L and O; otherwise no alloy phase; no dendrite; polyhedral grains | — | — |
| 12. | Same as 7 | Heat-treated or annealed below RT; then . . . . . | mild working |
| 13. | Distorted polygonal grains | Annealing below RT | No evidence |
| 14. | L at GB; large grains | A few twinning crystals suggest annealing at RT before cold or hot working | SLSTL and FG suggest cold or hot working |
| 15. | Equiaxial grains | — | — |
| 16. | Same as 14 | Same as 14 | — |
| 17. | L and IC at grain boundary | Annealing and Heat-treatment below RT suggested by etched structure | No evidence |
| 18. | Dendritic Structure | No evidence | Mild hot or cold working |
| 19. | O at grain boundary | No evidence | No evidence |

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| 20. | — | No evidence | Mild hot or cold working suggested by broken dendrites (BD) |
| 21. | As in 14 | As in 14 | — |
| 22. | Lead precipitation; distorted polygonal grains without twinning | Annealing below RT | Extensive parallel SLSTL and FG indicate heavy cold working causing permanent deformation |
| 23. | O and L as globules; no dendrite, and no alloy phase | — | — |
| 24. | IC visible in internal structure | No evidence | BD observed in etched structure suggests cold working |
| 25. | Same as 24 | — | Same as 24 |
| 26. | L and IC | Annealing below RT | Parallel SLSTL and FG indicate heavy cold working (after annealing) such as severe hammering |
| 27. | — | Annealing after casting at intermediate temperature | No evidence |
| 28. | — | Annealing below RT | — |
| 29. | L precipitated; distorted polygonal grains without twinning | As in 26 | — |
| 30. | — | As in 26 and 29 | As in 26 and 29 |

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of each other, formed on each side of a common plane. Fine grain structure and the presence of twinned grains indicate that the object might have been first cold worked and then annealed at the recrystallisation temperature. Such an object (no. 8) is the beautifully modelled Ṛṣabhanāth of the Gupta Period (5th-6th century AD) from Akota; Swarnakamal pushes its date to a much later period probably because it contains 10.4 per cent zinc! Another object (No. 15), also from Akota-Tirīrthaka of Pārśvanātha (22 x 11 cm) — showed equiaxial grains along with a few twinning crystals, and also strain lines. Swarnakamal suggests (1980: 112) that this object was probably annealed to recrystallisation temperature, and then worked in cold or hot condition. This icon also contains appreciable amount of zinc 7.4 per cent and certified by the art scholars to belong to seventh century AD. Thus sophisticated casting, cold/hot working and annealing of bronze/brass icons used to be done in Akota and other places of Gujarat during seventh century AD; this is well before the Cālukya or Solaṅkī rule (AD 961-1222) which is claimed by Swarnakamal (1980: 172) to be the era introducing brass icons.

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The chronological list of icons in Gujarat attested by art scholars, epigraphers and palaeographers, reproduced by Swarnakamal (1980: 11-15) show very few noteworthy icons after tenth century AD and before the fourteenth century AD. The Somanātha temple was sacked by Mahmud of Ghazni in AD 1026 and things did not settle down in the western part of India till the invading Muslims consolidated their hold in this part of the country which took about three centuries. In the thirteenth century AD mining of zinc ore and smelting the metal were resumed at Zawar and thus the brass technology was boosted. For four centuries (AD 1350-1752) Gujarat produced brass icons with very high precentages of zinc and very little lead and tin (Table 20.4). The eighteenth century AD brass icon Dīpalakṣmī (No. 38) assays nearly 40 per cent zinc. The seated Tīrthaṅkara image (No. 39) bears an inscription of the date AD 1752 which is five years before the war of Plassey and eight years before Zawar Mine had to slow down and eventually close its production on account of the repeated Marāṭhā invasions in Rajasthan.

Ancient Bronze and Brass Icons from Other Parts of India

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Bronze and brass icons from ancient India have been studied by many archaeologists and art historians but their scientific investigations have been initiated only very recently. This is evident from the following tabulation (Table 20.6) of some of the key workers and the dates of their publications.

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We have already quoted Swarnakamal’s work (1980) extensively. Analysis figures of some Gāndhāra and Kashmir brasses are provided in Table 20.7.

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Table 20.6

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Some Authors on Ancient Indian Icons and the Dates of their Publications

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| Before 1955 : Mostly on Art and Architecture | Gangoly (1915), Bernet Kempers (1933), Jayaswal (1934), Ramachandran (1954) |
| 1955-69 Analytical work | Lal (1956), Prakash *et al.* (1965), Werner (1965), Lee (1967), Goetz (1969) |
| 1970-79 | Czuma (1970), Werner (1970, 1972), Pal (1975), Beguin *et al.* (1977), Sahai (1977), Bhattacharyya (1979), Riederer (1979), Uhlig (1979) |
| 1980 - | Swarnakamal (1980), Schroeder (1981), Lo Bue (1981a), Bisht *et al.* (1981-82), Beguin *et al.* (1982), Riederer (1982, 1984), Nieuwenhuysen *et al.* (1984) |

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Werner (1965) undertook the job of spectro-chemical analysis of 72 Indian bronzes, many of them belonging to the modern era and ‘greater’ India including Java, Burma etc. He was surprised to find that two Kashmir images (Nos. 3 and 4 in Table 20.7) belonging to seventh-eighth century AD were made of brass and concluded that the brass used for these icons was of ‘non-Indian origin’. He further commented that all Indian bronzes containing larger percentages of zinc (apart from the ‘imported’ Kashmir samples) were of modern origin. We have discussed how Swarnakamal (1980: 137-38) followed the erroneous conclusion of Werner, and landed himself into grievous errors regarding the dates of brass icons from Gujarat.

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The Gāndhāra (Kuṣāṇa), Mathurā and Amarāvatī traditions of stone and metal sculpture were readily imbibed into the Gupta era traditions on copper, bronze and brass icons. If the Maurya era may be termed as the renaissance period of Indian non-ferrous ore mining, we may consider the Gupta era as the golden chapter of metallurgy producing beautiful gold coins, the famous iron pillar, wootz and steel and the beautiful icons made of bronze and brass. The last tradition spread all over the country: to Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Kashmir and the Buddhist monasteries of the Eastern India. By the sixth-seventh century AD, the brass revolution in India was in full swing. When Hiuen-Tsang toured across India during the first half of the seventh century AD, he found many brass objects and icons (chapter 18). Those were not only of Buddha but also of Viṣṇu, Śiva and Sūrya etc. (*vide* Nos. 3, 4, 6, 7, and 9 in Table 20.7).

v1.c28.s8.t2.8

Majumdar (1944, 1956) has outlined how the Brāhmaṇical and Buddhist missionaries spread cultural influence all across the South-East Asia during Analysis of Some Gāndhāra and Kashmir Brasses

v1.c28.s8.t2.9

| Sl. No. | Item | Elemental Percentages | | | | Impurities | Reference |
| | | Cu | Sn | Zn | Pb | | |
| 1. | Gāndhāra Buddha (Body) in British Museum | 73.0 | 1.2 | 16.8 | 4.7 | Fe 1.2, Sb 0.2, As, Ni, Ag | Lo Bue (1981a : 38) |
| 2. | Gāndhāra Buddha (5th century AD) in Victoria and Albert Museum, London | 68.5 | 3.86 | 20.25 | 3.62 | | |
| **Kashmir Icons** | | | | | | | |
| 3. | Viṣṇu : 3-headed 4-armed, 7th century AD | 86.0 | ~ 1.0 | 14.0 | — | — | Werner (1965) |
| 4. | Śiva-Lokeśvara : 8th century AD | 82.0 | ~ 1.0 | 17.0 | — | — | Werner (1965) |
| 5. | Buddha | 73.1 | — | 13.2 | 10.4 | — | Uhlig (1979) |
| 6. | Sūrya (Cleveland Museum) | 78.1 | — | 18.7 | 2.75 | — | Lee (1967) |
| 7. | Sūrya | 85.1 | 5.62 | 4.04 | 4.44 | Fe, Ni, Ag, Co | Riederer (1984) |
| 8. | Buddha | 77.8 | 2.47 | 12.90 | 5.45 | Fe, Ni, Ag | Riederer (1984) |
| 9. | Viṣṇu | 79.8 | — | 17.34 | 1.91 | Fe, Ni, Ag | Riederer (1984) |
| 10. | Bodhisattva | 80.8 | — | 18.65 | 0.47 | Fe, Ni, Ag | Riederer (1984) |

v1.c28.s8.t2.10

and after the Gupta Period: in Suvarṇabhūmi or Burma, Ligor in Malay Peninsula, Siam or Thailand, Kambuja or Kampuchia, Campā or Vietnam, and Indonesia. On the one hand bronze sculptures were made according to the Indian tradition (such as the third century AD bronze Buddha in Vietnam), and on the other India received precious metals such as silver, gold and tin from the South East Asian countries.

v1.c28.s8.t2.11

The Gupta Period or Magadha bronze tradition reached Kashmir. A huge bronze Buddha was taken on an elephant’s back all the way from Magadha to Kashmir during Lalitāditya’s reign (first half of the 8th century AD). (Pal, 1975) Down South, the Amarāvatī school of bronze sculpture had been boosted by the brass tradition of the Sātavāhanas in the second century AD initiated by Nāgārjuna who might have lived in the Bhamragarh area of the Satmala Hills (Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Andhra Pradesh border, vide Beal, 1884, 1969: Book II, pp. 214-15). Not very far from this area, Sripura (modern Sirpur, 21° 20' N, 82° 11' E, 53 miles from Raipur) was the capital of Pāṇḍuvaṁśis of South Kosala during sixth-seventh century AD. This site has yielded many Brāhmaṇical and Buddhist bronze images. It was evidently a centre of bronze-casting; Droṇāditya was the name of one of the bronze-casters. One of the images obtained from this site was gilded; another had ‘large eyes inlaid with silver and lips of red copper’. A crystal stūpa, a gilt vajra and a Chinese copper coin (of the period AD 713-41) showed that it was a famous centre of pilgrimage. (Mitra, 1971, 1980: 103) We have indicated earlier the discovery and analysis of brass Buddha images from East Nimur, Madhya Pradesh, belonging to this period.

v1.c28.s8.t2.12

Unfortunately very few bronze/brass images of the Gupta Period have been found in the Nālandā or surrounding Magadha areas. One such gold-plated bronze image of Manjuśrī has been obtained from Mahasthan, Bangladesh. It is quite possible that some of these were removed to other sites and some destroyed, melted and recast by invaders and vandals. Hiuen-Tsang saw and reported a large number of teou-shih or brass images all around India. He described the brass Maheśvara of Varanasi “100 feet (?) high, its appearance is grave and majestic, and appears as though really living”. Where is this statue now? Similarly the huge 80 ft (?) high copper Buddha in Nālandā described by Hiuen-Tsang is not to be found although a recently discovered stone inscription corroborates that a king Śrī Purnavarmā indeed had this image made and installed. Was it later shifted to Vikramśīlā monastery near Sultanganj and now known as the Birmingham Buddha? The brass plate vihāra made by king Harṣavardhana was recorded by Hiuen-Tsang’s biographer, Kwui Li. (Beal, 1914)

The Art Tradition at Nālandā

v1.c28.s8.t3.1

Although Nālandā (25° 8' N, 85° 27' E, 85 km south-east of Patna) was educationally important during the second century AD when Nāgārjuna is said to have visited it, and the university was established in the year AD 425 (Sankalia), the icon-making tradition in Nālandā evolved slowly and grew to its full stature much later. After Hiuen-Tsang, I-Tsing came as a pilgrim-student from China and stayed there for ten years (AD 675-85).

v1.c28.s8.t3.2

I-Tsing described that collective worship of the images by the students was a distinct feature of the Nālandā curriculum. "The morning bath is followed by the ablution of an image (of Buddha, Hariti, Avalokiteśvara, Bodhisattva etc.) made of gold, silver, copper or stone by the resident members; in individual apartments of a monastery, priests bathe an image everyday so carefully that no ceremony is omitted" (Takakusu, 1896, translating I-Tsing quoted by Akhtar, 1984: 126) Akhtar has commented (1984: 126-27) that this mode of worship was mainly responsible for the mass production of images at Nālandā. No site in the entire sub-continent has yielded as many bronze images as in the monastery complexes of Nālandā, Kurkihar, and Vikramśilā. At Nālandā, the sculptures were found mainly in the dwelling places indicating individual worship. The bronzes are often more ornately decked than their counterpart in stone.

v1.c28.s8.t3.3

During the first half of the eighth century, Nālandā continued to influence the rest of the country, but its real glory as far as bronze/brass sculpture is concerned, arose only during the later half. Lāmā Tārānātha, the historian of Tibetan Buddhism recorded (Chattopadhyaya, 1970) that a new school of Pāla art, founded during the reigns of Dharmapāla (AD 783-818) and Devapāla (AD 818-58), gradually spread to Kashmir, Nepal and Tibet. He wrote:

v1.c28.s8.t3.4

The nāga productions of Nāgārjuna’s time were rivalled by the creations of Dhīmān and his son Biṭapāla, natives of Varendra (Bengal) who lived during the reigns of Dharmapāla and Devapāla. Both father and son were skilled alike as painters, sculptors and bronze founders. Biṭapāla who remained in Bengal, was regarded as the head of the Eastern school of bronze casting.

v1.c28.s8.t3.5

We should note the significance of Tārānātha’s reference to the earlier nāga (lead, zinc) or brass icon tradition of Nāgārjuna, which was now being supplemented by the Pāla artistes with tin-bronze casting. There must have been a renewed supply of tin from the Hazārībāgh mines or through the import of the material from Burma or the Malay Peninsula. The ninth century AD. text Sarveśvararasāyana refers to tin as vaṅga, the metal from Bengal, and describes the method for its purification. Table 20.8 shows that the Nālandā artistes used pure copper, brass as well as moderate and high-tin bronzes for casting images. Over 500 bronzes of Buddha and Buddhist divinities of Tantrayāna-Vajrayāna cult (a newly emerging Tāntric cult) and of Brāhmaṇical divinities have been recovered but only a few have been analysed for chemical content by Lal (1956: 55-56) who reports that “very little is known about their forging, casting, soldering, heat-treating etc.”

v1.c28.s8.t3.6

The data presented in Table 20.8 shows that most samples analysed contain appreciable quantities of lead, which obviously rendered the alloys more fluid and better for casting. The lead percentage however did not exceed six as in some of the Gujarat samples. Several samples assay as much as 2-4 per cent in iron and most samples contain some nickel. Possibly the copper metal was smelted from local nickel-rich ore of Bihar at high temperature to include some reduced iron. Metallographic analysis would have thrown more light on this aspect. In a few samples arsenic and antimony were detected; there was zinc as trace impurity in some of the non-brass alloys. As much as 16 per cent zinc was noticed in a sample whereas tin content reached a higher figure of 24 per cent.

v1.c28.s8.t3.7

A brick-built smelting furnace has been found near Temple 13 of Nālandā; it is made of four chambers in one square divided by short walls, each of the chambers provided with two flues for fire to burn and air to pass. The find of burnt metal pieces, slag of metal and similar objects within it shows that it was used for casting metal. (Ghosh, 1989: Vol. II pp. 305-06)

v1.c28.s8.t3.8

Nālandā has been the richest source of the well-known smooth images in black slate. Though an ecclesiastical site, Nālandā has shown many interesting metallic objects:

v1.c28.s8.t3.9

Iron flat bars, chisels, swastikas, scissors, elephant goads, cattle branding stamps, armours, daggers, sword-hilts (the invaders were anticipated) bronze cups and jugs, metal inkpots, ornamental gold leaves and beads, gilded conches, bangles and rings, crucibles, ladles, censers, pottery bowls, clay moulds of seals, bone and ivory game pieces, glass beads and rings, rubies (from Burma?) for inlaying in bronzes etc.

v1.c28.s8.t3.10

Evidently Nālandā was not only a pilgrimage centre and an educational institution, it was also a centre of metallurgical and ceramic arts and crafts.

Some Other Centres of the Pāla Art

v1.c28.s8.t4.1

Nālandā was one of the many art centres of the Pāla era. This art tradition survived for four centuries (8th-12th century AD) outlasting the Pāla kingdom itself and spreading across the international borders. The metal images were not only Buddhist but also Tantric, Jaina and Brāhmanical. The modelling was comparable to that of the Gupta Period images; the Pāla images were noted for ‘the lines, soft curves and appealing expressions’.

v1.c28.s8.t4.2

Nālandā metal Images (8th-9th Century AD) Analysis of Sound Metallic Cores unless stated otherwise

v1.c28.s8.t4.3

| | Percentage Composition | | | | Impurities |
| | Cu | Sn | Zn | Pb | |
| **Pure Copper Samples** | | | | | |
| 1. | 97.85 | 0.20 | 0.10 | 0.05 | Fe, Ni |
| *2. | 97. 14 | 0.08 | — | 0.04 | Fe, Ni |
| **High Tin Bronze** | | | | | |
| 3. | 75.54 | 23.68 | — | — | Fe, Ni, Sb |
| ** 4. | 76.98 | 16.19 | — | 2.78 | Fe, Ni |
| 5. | 78.75 | 15.60 | — | 2.55 | Fe, Ni |
| 6. | 80.84 | 15.09 | 0.05 | 3.06 | 1.3 %. Fe, Ni |
| 7. | 81.23 | 14.62 | 0.44 | 2.64 | Fe, Ni |
| 8. | 79.60 | 9.10 | — | 5.00 | 5.8 % Fe, Ni |
| 9. | 82.99 | 8.99 | 1.81 | 3.12 | 4.2 % Fe, Ni |
| 10. | 80.20 | 8.90 | — | 5.17 | 3.86 Fe, Ni |
| 11. | 82.15 | 8.70 | 0.06 | 5.93 | 2.7 % Fe, Ni, S |
| **Brass** | | | | | |
| 12. | 79.98 | 1.29 | 16.00 | — | Ni |
| 13. | 78.95 | 0.74 | 15.15 | 3.03 | 1.47 % Fe, Ni |
| 14. | 85.25 | 1.15 | 7.54 | 3.10 | 2.4 % Fe, Ni, As, Sb |
| **Minor Alloying** | | | | | |
| 15. | 93.07 | 1.93 | 1.91 | — | 2.1 % Fe, Ni |
| 16. | 91.62 | 1.19 | 2.61 | 2.22 | Fe, Ni |

v1.c28.s8.t4.4

* Corroded Metal ** Heterogeneous Core

v1.c28.s8.t4.5

There were many Buddhist monasteries in the medieval Bihar (AD 600-1200) but only four, having university complexes, enjoyed maximum popularity. Apart from Nālandā, the three others were Vajrāsana (Mahābodhi or Bodh-Gayā), Odantapurī or Uḍyantapurī (the flying city on the mountains — on a hill near the modern town of Bihar-Sharif) and Vikramśilā (Pātharghaṭṭā hill near Bhagalpur on the Ganges; most antiquities found in nearby Antichak).

v1.c28.s8.t4.6

Vajrāsana developed principally as a pilgrimage centre; but it has also yielded the famous polished sandstone throne or Vajrāsana, and an image from which ‘the emerald eyes were stolen by the Turushka soldiers’. Recently Mitra (1990) has described the ninth-tenth century AD images of Devī Cuṇḍā from Bodh-Gayā made of blackish green and bluish green stones in which metal eyes were inlaid. It would be worthwhile to analyse the constituent of these stones.

v1.c28.s8.t4.7

Odantapurī monastery on the hills was founded around AD 725 and was demolished by the Muslim invaders in AD 1199 when Govindapāla, the king, was using the place as his capital and a fort. (Mishra, 1984) The treasures were plundered and the library was burnt; so no detail has survived. Vikramśilā monastery was founded by Dharmapāla some time during his reign (AD 783-818). The Antichak site near Vikramśilā has shown many stone and bronze images, massive to tiny ones, of the early Mahāyāna, the Tāntric Mahāyāna and the Hindu pantheons, with sexo-yogic overtones. (Chaudhary, R., 1984)

v1.c28.s8.t4.8

Kurkihar (24º 49' N, 85º 15' E), 16 miles from Gayā was another centre for bronze casting. It has yielded the famous twelfth century AD gilt bronze Padmapāṇi. Ten cart load of idols of the Buddhist tāntrika period excavated in 1848 is now in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. Another rich hoard of 200 bronze objects (148 Buddhist, the rest Brāhmaṇical of fine workmanship, stūpas, bells; large number of crowned Buddhas) are now kept in the Patna Museum. The largest piece is the 5 ft standing Buddha, gilded and ornamented with inlaid silver. The 1930 excavation uncovered a partly exposed metal-smelting annexe proving that Kurkihar was a prolific centre of metal casting. Many dedicatory inscriptions were found bearing regnal years of the Pāla Kings. (Mitra, 1971, 1980: 89-90)

v1.c28.s8.t4.9

At Achutrajpur, Orissa, the ninth-eleventh century AD site has yielded a hoard of 95 Pāla bronze images, bronze stūpa, bell, spouted pots etc. Ratnagiri near Cuttack was a famous Buddhist site (5th-12th century AD) producing a rich hoard of bronze items apart from unparalleled surface treated chlorite or Khondalite sculptures.

v1.c28.s8.t4.10

Many Buddhist monasteries in Bengal (most of them now in Bangladesh: Rangpur, Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Dacca etc.) flourished during the Pāla-Sen era and promoted the arts and crafts in stones and bronzes. Many bronze images of Buddha, Kuvera etc. have been found from the eighth-twelfth century AD site of Soampura, known as Paharpur, district Rajshahi, Bangladesh. A large monastery (built on 8th century AD) has been unearthed in 1955-57 at Mainamati, five miles west of Comilla. This site has shown silver coins (metal from Burma?), ‘an inspired orgy of terracotta art’ and large number of images of Buddha. (Mitra, 1971, 1980: 245-46) The Buddhist images found at Jhewari in Chittagong (10th- 13th century AD) site are marked by ruggedness and may be called provincial variations of the Pāla school. Bernet-Kempers (1933: 10-11 and 70-77) have shown in his critical study that the Javanese bronze have some resemblance with the Nālandā metal imagery. The Nālandā Copper Plate (AD 860) of Devapāladeva mentions that the kind Balaputradeva of Suvarṇadvipa built a monastery at Nālandā and requested Devapāla to assist in the maintenance of the monastery.

The Icon-Metallurgy of Tibet

v1.c28.s8.t5.1

We have mentioned the Magadha tradition (along with Gāndhāra and Mathurā traditions) influencing the brass-icon metallurgy of Kashmir (*vide* Table 20.7). The Pāla tradition spreaded across Nepal to Tibet starting from the beginning of the ninth century, and therefore we may consider the Tibetan scenario, at least up to the twelfth century AD, as part of the scenario of Greater India. It is true that the Newar sculptors from Nepal and the brass-casters of Kashmir helped making the Tibetan icons during the same period (Lo Bue, 1981a: 33-34; 1981b: 69-70), but the Nepalese and Kashmiri traditions were also Indian.

v1.c28.s8.t5.2

Lo Bue (1981a: 34-37) made a beautiful analysis of the huge amount of earlier data and his own data on Tibetan icons and came up to certain valid generalisations. According to him the brass-traditions in the Western and Eastern Tibet were due to the influences from Kashmir and China respectively, whereas the Central and Southern Tibet were influenced more by the Nepalese tradition of using pure copper and gilded copper in the icons. We would like to point out that the Magadha/Pāla traditions in Bihar/Bengal were the more versatile ones encompassing the uses of copper, gilded copper, brass as well as bronze. We find very little bronze or tin in the Tibetan icons probably because the production of tin in the Hazārībāgh area (referred to as *vanga*, or the metal from Bengal, in the ninth century AD *Sarveśvararasāyana*) or the import of the metal from Burma or Malay Peninsula were insufficient so that Bengal and Bihar could hardly share it with Nepal or Tibet. On the other hand there were sufficient number of working copper mines in Nepal, and significant quantities of zinc and brass were forthcoming from the Zawar Mines in Rajasthan. What the Pāla kingdom transmitted to Tibet were principally the prevalent art traditions and the technical know-how of casting through the disciples of Dhīmān and Biṭpāla, apart from sending some copper and brass.

v1.c28.s8.t5.3

Quite significantly, “brass tends to replace bronze (in the ancient Indian context) as one proceeds westward from Bengal, an area close to tin-producing

v1.c28.s8.t5.4

Table 20.9

v1.c28.s8.t5.5

Atomic Absorption Analyses of Some Tibetan/Himalayan Brass Items in British Museum Dated 11th-12th Century AD

v1.c28.s8.t5.6

| Sl. No. | Item | Cu | Zn | Pb | Sn | As | Fe | Ni | Sb | Ag | Primary Reference |
| 1. | Cleveland Buddha 98.1 cm high — W. Tibet 10th-11th century AD | 68.3 | 20.2 | 11.0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Lo Bue (1981a:34) |
| 2. | Standing Vajrapāṇi 69.3 cm. at Musée Guimet, Paris | 87.0 | 11.7 | 1.0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Hours (1980) |
| 3. | Mañjuśrī (Western Tibet) 12.5 cm | 65.5 | 30.4 | 1.70 | 0.30 | 0.25 | 0.20 | 0.16 | 0.05 | 0.03 | Schroeder (1981) |
| 4. | Lion of item 3 | 76.0 | 13.9 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 6.80 | 0.30 | 0.04 | 0.07 | 0.20 | — do — |
| 5. | Base of item 3 | 90.1 | 0.4 | 0.26 | 1.20 | 7.40 | 0.15 | 0.02 | 0.07 | 0.23 | — do — |
| 6. | Stūpa | 62.5 | 32.3 | 1.56 | 1.50 | 0.75 | 0.50 | 0.30 | 0.07 | 0.02 | — do — |
| 7. | Buddha and Bodhisattva 10.5 cm Azurite Pigment (Western Tibet) | 77.5 | 14.7 | 4.90 | 2.60 | 0.20 | 0.50 | 0.07 | 0.20 | 0.03 | — do — |
| 8. | Avalokiteśvara — traces of gold but no Hg on face | 98.0 | 0.015 | 0.02 | 0.40 | 0.03 | 0.40 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.10 | — |

v1.c28.s8.t5.7

| Sl. No. | Item | Elemental Percentages | | | | | | | Primary Reference |
| | | Cu | Zn | Pb | Sn | As | Fe | Ni | Sb | Ag | |
| 9. | Avalokiteśvara — Eastern India — Set with green stones | 68.5 | 26.5 | 3.00 | 0.30 | 1.20 | 0.27 | 0.04 | 0.10 | 0.03 | |
| 10. | Śiva and Pārvatī — Eastern India — gold paint on face and blue azurite on hair | 74.0 | 25.0 | 0.15 | 0.10 | 0.35 | — | 0.10 | 0.30 | 0.10 | Béguin (1977) |
| 11. | Avalokiteśvara — Eastern India — inlaid with Ag and Cu | 70.5 | 28.5 | 0.50 | 0.30 | 0.35 | 0.03 | 0.04 | 0.20 | 0.04 | — do — |
| 12. | Mañjuśrī — Eastern India or S. Tibet — inlaid with Ag and Cu; inset green stones | 72.0 | 27.0 | 0.66 | 0.10 | 0.20 | 0.20 | 0.04 | 0.10 | 0.01 | — do — |
| 13. | Samvara — E. India or S. Tibet — inlaid Ag and Cu | 71.5 | 27.0 | 0.86 | 0.10 | 0.20 | 0.18 | 0.03 | 0.10 | 0.02 | — do — |

v1.c28.s8.t5.8

countries, to Rajasthan, where zinc ores were exploited”. (Lo Bue, 1981a: 34) The above generalisation clearly emerges from the earlier works of Lal (1956), Lee (1967), Werner (1972), Sahai (1977), Uhlig (1979) etc. A survey of Tibetan and Himalayan metal statuary in the major public collections of Britain such as Ashmolean, Liverpool County, Royal Scottish and Cambridge Museums showed that out of nearly 220 Tibetan icons, 58 per cent were made of brass and 42 per cent of copper. Some were fire-gilded brass (15 per cent), fire-gilded copper (12.2 per cent), cold-gilded (2 per cent), silver-containing (5 per cent), repoussé (2 per cent) and inlaid with stones (1.5 per cent). Lo Bue (1981a: 36) The trend is also clear from the compilation of data on 121 samples (Craddock, 1981), a gist of which is displayed in Table 20.9.

v1.c28.s8.t5.9

The Newar artistes of Nepal often preferred pure copper for casting (brass was of course known in Nepal; during the second half of eighth century AD, one Nepalese king was known as ‘king of brass’). The preference for copper in Nepal was for (a) its attractive red colour, (b) the prevalent religio-aesthetic tradition connecting it to purity, (c) its advantages for mercury gilding. (Lo Bue, 1981a: 48) In the seventh century AD, Hiuen-Tsang and the text Cakradatta of 1050 AD specifically referred to Nepalese copper; the late thirteenth century AD text Rasaratnasamuccaya mentioned about its purity. However considering the trace impurities of the sample No. 8 in Table 20.9 it does not seem that highly pure native copper was used. Some copper might have been obtained from the Kamraz mines in Kashmir as mentioned in Kalhaṇa’s Rājatarangiṇī.

v1.c28.s8.t5.10

The bulk of the samples reported or analysed by Craddock (1981) are made of brass. In Table 20.9 we have not included the Tibetan icons of date later than the twelfth century AD, when the percentage of zinc in the brass went on increasing even beyond 32 per cent (vide sample No. 6). In several samples such as in No. 5 a very small quantity of zinc might have been added not for alloying but probably as a de-oxidiser. It is doubtful whether zinc ore mines in Tibet or Nepal were tapped; the metal and brass were probably imported from India.

v1.c28.s8.t5.11

Some of the terms for zinc ore, zinc and brass in the ancient world were:

v1.c28.s8.t5.12

Persian: tūtiyā (calamine), tuzia or tutty (impure zinc oxide), tutenāga (zinc)

v1.c28.s8.t5.13

Chinese: tutenāga (zinc), teou-shih (brass or copper alloy in general, the term used by Hiuen-Tsang)

v1.c28.s8.t5.14

Tibetan: ti-tsha (zinc), tikzā (zinc mineral), red li (copper), white li (high zinc brass)

v1.c28.s8.t5.15

Lo Bue (1981a: 47-48, 50-51 and 65-66) explained in great detail that li was a general term in Tibet for copper alloys. White *li* or high (around 25 %) zinc brass was the constituent of many icons such as No. 10 with strong Magadha influence. He quoted *Padma-dkar-po* (1973 reprint of *Collected Works*, Darjeeling) writing on “images of Magadha made out of white *li*, of indisputable quality with plump face and a great share of grace, with perfect copper lips and silver eyes”. Béguin (1977: 11-12 and 70) indentified No. 10 as a replica of an original Indian Umā-Maheśvara icon. It is quite possible that the Pāla artistes introduced in the ninth century AD. Tibet this tradition of brass icon (24-28 % zinc, rest copper) inlaid with copper and silver. Samples such as Nos. 2, 4 and 7 contain 11-15 per cent zinc and may be called, in Tibetan terminology, yellow *li*; the bulk of the icons however contained 25-32 per cent zinc (white *li*). Still higher percentages of zinc are noted in the icons produced after the twelfth century AD e.g. sixteenth century AD. Maitreya analysing 40.7 per cent zinc. (Craddock, 1981: 29, sample 98)

v1.c28.s8.t5.16

Tin percentages were well below one in most cases, where a little scrap bronze might have been used. *Rasaratnasamuccaya* recipe of ‘eight parts of copper and two parts tin’ i.e. 20 per cent tin bronze could not be used in Nepal or Tibet for the scarcity of tin. Significantly two bells from ninteteenth century Tibet (Craddock, 1981: 27-28, Nos. 47 and 80) assay 20.8 and 19.8 per cent tin respectively.

v1.c28.s8.t5.17

Lead is a low melting point metal insoluble in copper. Up to 2 per cent lead in molten copper improves fluidity and thus it clearly aids in casting. At higher percentages the globules form ‘lakes’ of lead and the lead-copper/bronze interface causes weakness and cracking if hammered. Most Tibetan images contain only moderate quantities of lead which is at variance from some of the Kashmir and North Indian examples. Cleveland Buddha (sample No. 1) contains 11.0 per cent lead. The brass statue of Sūrya from Kashmir (Lee, 1967) contains 2.75 per cent lead, 18.7 per cent zinc and 78.1 per cent copper. Uhlig (1979: 122) has described a brass Buddha containing 10. 37 per cent lead, 13.2 per cent zinc and 73.1 per cent copper. The Newar sculptors preferred far less quantities of lead which are soluable in mercury and thus hinder the process of gilding using mercury. It is noteworthy that many fire-gilded brass statues and copper icons contain negligible quantitites of lead (*vide* Nos. 5, 8, 10-13 in Table 20.9).

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Tibetan icons contain detectable quantities of arsenic. Some weathered *fahlerz* ores of copper, containing not only arsenic but also some antimony, nickel and silver, might have been used for smelting. (Tylecote, 1962) The items 4 and 5 (Table 20.9) viz., the lion and the base of the brass Mañjuśrī however contain higher proportions of arsenic and much less of the other trace elements and therefore suggest deliberate arsenic-alloying. This 12.5 cm icon has been described by Schroeder (1981), and elemental analysis for the icon, lion and base published by Craddock (1981: 27, No. 42). La Niece *et al.* (1989) showed that like the third century BC Libyan ‘white copper’ coins, the base of the Mañjuśrī statuette (No. 5 in Table 20.9) contains high per cent of arsenic (7.4) in the bulk and even higher (14.0) per cent of the element on the surface. X-ray fluorescence and scanning electron microscopoy with EDAX analysis revealed that the arsenic-rich layer was formed due to inverse segregation which occurs in alloys freezing over a long temperature range and contracting during solidification. (La Niece *et al.*, 1989: 12) Evidently the arsenical casting alloy was chosen for the visual effect of a ‘golden’ statue on a white ‘silvery’ base. The eleventh century text *Rasahṛdaya* (18.23-69) actually described the process of “heating of copper with an equal weight of *tāla* (orpiment, As₂S₃) and *vaṅga* (tin) to convent this into silver”.

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