All About Art and Craft of IVC

Introduction

The art and craft of the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) were characterized by intricate craftsmanship, sophisticated techniques, and a rich aesthetic tradition, showcasing the cultural sophistication and artistic prowess of this ancient history and civilization.

Strategy for Procuring Material for Art and Craft of IVC

• The Harappans procured materials for craft production in various ways:

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Trade with other areas

• Khetri region of Rajasthan (for copper) and South India (for gold). 
• Barter exchange with other civilizations like Summer (at present southern Iraq, from around Baghdad to the Persian Gulf) and Mesopotamia (presently eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and most of Iraq; land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers).

• The people were highly skilled in art and craft of IVC—metal casting, boat-making, stone carving, pottery, and making terracotta images using simplified motifs of animals, plants, and birds.
• Sculptures of stone, bronze, or terracotta were found. 
  • Two male figures are made of stone—one is a torso in red sandstone (Harappa), and the other is a bust of a bearded man in soapstone (Mohenjodaro).
• Terracotta: compared to the stone and bronze statues, the terracotta representations of human form are crude. They are more realistic on Gujarat sites and Kalibangan. 
  • The mother goddess terracotta figure found in Harappa.
• Seals are mostly made of steatite and occasionally of agate, ivory, chert, copper, faience, and terracotta, with figures such as Pashupati Seal, unicorn bull, rhinoceros, tiger, elephant, bison, goat, buffalo, etc. 
  • These seals might have been used as an identity marker on the transported materials, indicating their ownership.
• Pottery consists chiefly of wheel-made wares, with very few being hand-made. Plain pottery, generally made of red clay, is more common than painted ware.
  • Pottery was well-fired and had a deep red slip and black paintings.
  • Motifs on pottery include pipal leaves, fish-scale design, intersecting circles, zigzag lines, horizontal bands and geometrical motifs with floral and faunal patterns. 

Textiles and Ornaments

• They had knowledge of cotton and silk. The image identified as a priest is depicted wearing a shawl-like cloth with flower decorations. 
• Spinning of cotton and wool was very common.
• Beads and ornaments are made of carnelian, jasper, crystal, steatite, and metals like copper, bronze, gold, shell, faience, terracotta, or burnt clay. 

• • Excavated Mesopotamian sites provide evidence of these artefacts, indicating exports from Indus Valley sites.
  • A cemetery found at Farmana (Haryana) reveals dead bodies buried with ornaments.

Metal, Tools and Weapons

• The art and craft of IVC and Harappan civilisation belongs to the Bronze Age civilisation, and Harappans knew how to make copper bronze tools. Bronze was made by mixing tin with copper. 
• Tools: The Harappans used chert blades, copper objects, and bone and ivory tools. The tools of points, chisels, needles, fish hooks, razors, weighing pans, mirrors and antimony rods were made of copper. 
• The chert blades made out of Rohri chert were used by the Harappans. Their weapons include arrowheads, spearheads, celts, and axes.

• Bronze Casting was practised on a wide scale using the ‘lost wax’ or Cire Perdue technique.
  • The statue of Dancing Girl (Mohenjo-daro) and the Bronze figure of a bull from Kalibangan
• They did not have knowledge of iron.

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Conclusion

• The art and craft of IVC represent a remarkable legacy of creativity, innovation, and cultural expression. 
  • Through the exquisite pottery, sculpture, seals, and other artifacts, of art and craft of IVC left an indelible mark on the artistic landscape of the ancient world, inspiring admiration and fascination to this day.