Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c9.17

v1.c9.17

India produced a huge variety of art objects for which diverse raw materials were used (chapter 20). Many kinds of rocks and stones, limes and plasters, pigments for painting etc. were used since the pre-Christian era. The Buddhist relic caskets faithfully display the contemporary art objects made of steatite, rock crystal, beryl, gold, etc. Metallic icons—Buddhistic, Jaina and Brāhmaṇical — constitute a great treasure of ancient Indian Art. Surveying the traditions of Gujarat, Nālandā, Kashmir, Nepal, Tibet and South India in icon-making, we have presented some of the scientific data in this chapter. In India there were distinct trends of alloy-making using different proportions of copper, tin, zinc, lead, gold (different kinds of gilding procedure), etc. The uses of sophisticated instruments and techniques are adding new dimensions to the scientific knowledge of the ancient Indian art objects.