Subject/Title: High Priest (Beared Man)

Date/Period:Mohenjo-Daro, Pakistan; Indus Valley Civilization

Material:limestone

Discuss: Title assigned through visual aesthetics: Robe has traces of color on the trefoil pattern, which  can be related to some early sumerian figures. Also, his Jewels on the forehead contribute to that too. The downcast eyes portray a yoga disciple in contemplation, also the high nose and thick licks stand out. This style would be deemed a formal style, also a hieratic sculpture. This art seems to be influenced by exterior cultures, patterns and motifs are not found elsewhere in MD or hardpan civilization; which can lead to assumptions that this made it way through the indus valley by  way of trade

Subject/Title: Nude Male Torso

Date/Period: Harappa, Indus Valley civilization 

Material: Red Sandstone

Discussion: The Torso seems natural, living and flowing. This can be deemed an organic style, and this shows the intelligent study of the human body, the progression of understanding for it. The “full belly” is something heavily respected in indian culture later on too. Chest Torso have very smooth transitions, no angular lines, compared to the high priest The circular drills on the shoulders/head make this piece seem that it was in different components; the function of the drills can either be symbolic meaning or where the actual arms/head are suppose to be at. 

Subject/Title: Dancing Girl

Date/Period: Mohenjo-Daro; Indus Valley Civilization 

Material: Bronze

Discussion:Dancing girl provides a transition link between the organic and formal style we find in the Indus Valley Culture. The head, specifically the nose/eyes, are very formal just like the high priest. Where as the back and side can is seen as very natural, organic like the torso. Elaborate asymmetrical hair can be seen in later indian culture; She is wearing Bangles, leading to assuming in later indian culture that the body becomes an apparatus for display and decoration.  The nude body with that style of pose can be related to fertility. 

Subject/Title: Yogin Seal

Date/Period: Indus Valley Civilization 

Material:White steatite 

Discussion: 

image is a person crossed legged, and two arms on the heel of each side; represents a yogi practice. on the back of the image, you can see other animals, unicorn, elephants, tiger, horse those kind of images associate with indian good, shiva.  the face is a 3 face image; usually has 3 different facial expression to represent shiva in 3 different ways. shiva is an important hindu diety.

This seal represents a yogi-like pose, perhaps shiva. The purpose of these seals were for personal identification or trade, the original function of these seals are unknown. The seals are very intricate and fully modeled, sleek in outline and have seemed to be influenced with tools and technique heavily naturalistic and organic carving. Indus valley language are usually written on the top. Often times, motifs appear in these seals in indian art, like dancing girl. Seals allow us to have to have a link with early mesopotamia culture; allow us to date the indus valley civ. because these seals were found in the akkadain sites in mesopotamia

Subject/Title: Square Stamped Seal with Humped Bull

Date/Period: Indus Valley Civilization 

Material: Steatite

Discussion:The purpose of these seals were for personal identification or trade, the original function of these seals are unknown. The seals are very intricate and fully modeled, sleek in outline and have seemed to be influenced with tools and technique heavily naturalistic and organic carving. Indus valley language are usually written on the top. Often times, motifs appear in these seals in indian art, like dancing girl. Seals allow us to have to have a link with early mesopotamia culture; allow us to date the indus valley civ. because these seals were found in the akkadain sites in mesopotamia

Subject/Title: Lion Capital

Date/Period: Maurya Dynasty

Material: Polished Sand Stone

Discussion: Artwork during the Maurya Dynasty are heavily influenced by Ashoka, an emperor at that  time who converted and adopted Buddhist Laws to his land. Lion Capital, are part of his columns that he set up throughout his land to spread the teachings and beliefs. The Lion and wheels and other animals are a representation of Anionic Imagery. The lion represents royalty, even more importantly the buddha is described to be a part of this royal blood. Legs and face of lion are polished, and smooth too. Mix between organic and formal, where the lion is very naturalistic, some formal as the fur on the capital.  The wheel on the frieze is a symbol of buddha’s law, later representation of the buddha show his hand in a motion of teaching, or turning of a wheel.

Subject/Title: Chauri Bearer

Date/Period: Maurya Dynasty

Material: Polished Sandstone

Discussion: - She is holding the ceremonial whisk, that identifies her as an attendant to some eminent personage. Important characteristics followed by later indian artist depicting female body: tremendous development of breast, relatively small waistt, large hips thick lips, rounded face.. Suggest function of life-bearing, life-giving and loving. Very naturalistic, you can see wrinkles under the belly, wide open eyes, big lips, and face. You have have necklaces, dangles on arm, and ornaments on waist too. Sculpture may well be the most sophisticated, courtly expression of maurya, a very figural style 

Subject/Title: Chaitya Hall

Date/Period: Late Shunga Period

Material: Bhaja, Maharashtra, India

Discussion: Chaitya Hall is where people go to worship. Inside the hall, there is a Stupa inside, which represent the Buddha. Stupa itself has no decorative motif on the surface, so in which would represent an Aniconic style. The buddhist cave is carved out of living rock, but their prototypes were wooden structure based. Chaitya halls usually have a space for buddhist monk to live, called the  vihara; Have decorative columns too and on the side of the hall and there were carvings on those living quarter

Subject/Title: The Great Stupa

Date/Period: Andra Period

Material: Sanchi

Discussion:  The 'Great Stupa' at Sanchi is the oldest stone structure in India  Its center was a simple hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of the Buddha. It was crowned by the chatra, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, which was intended to honour and shelter the relics. . In the 1st century BCE, four elaborately carved toranas (ornamental gateways) and a balustrade encircling the entire structure were added.

Subject/Title:  torana Gate/bracket figure

Date/Period: Andra Period

Material: Sanchi Site

Discussion: 

Subject/Title: Bowl Painted with Human Faces and Fish

Date/Period: Early Yangshao Culture

Material: ceramic pottery

Discussion:

Represnts the Yangshao culture because it is known as the painted culture due to its paintings. Image painted inside shows human face with a mask, eyes, nose, and a mouth. The top of the head  has a hat, with fish bones on the body; this is extremly important because showing fish means that fishing is a important part of their living style; fish bones depicted as decoration shows fishing important. The two fishes shown represents understainding of nature;

Subject/Title:  Gu Beaker

Date/Period: Longshan Culture

Material: Black Pottery

Discussion:

The elegant, thin bodied, high-footed shape are charasteristics of black pottery in the longshan period. to make this shape, dark clay is shaped on the turn table, via wood/bamboo cutting tools, dried by leather hard, and then fired to black shiny color. the name "gu" came from much later bronze period; these objects are protypes of later bronze objects Gu in bronze period used as a container, in earlier periods we don't really know the function, possibly holding water?

Subject/Title: Prismatic Tube

Date/Period:Liangzhu Culture

Material: Jade

Discussion:

we don’t know the function of the object, but carved directly from hard stone. these were further embellished with engraved interlace spirals and circles, often defining eyes, nose, mouth, “mask” which were to become major elements in the shang iconography vocabulary. quite simple lines,verticle horzontlel ines no complicated pattern because its VERY hard to cut through the stone and very time consuming and lots of labor work we can see some images here, but very shallow due to hard material, this image in the corner with two horns and eyes, possible nose. Verysimpekind of image, this prototype of the later dragon image develop in china. Some say this is the image to buffalo

Subject/Title: Li He

Date/Period: Shang Dynasty

 Material: Bronze

Discussion:

characteristics include thin walls, possibly derived from still earlier but as yet unknown sheet-copper types; thread-relief ornaments, as one might expect from a design first incised on molds in imitation of incised ceramic techniques; close relationships to black pottery longshan prototypes, expressed in the large, tapering, hollow legs. Style 2: one band, but raised band. in the early period we find bronze vessel are style 1/2 Another wine vessel, this one keeps wine in the vessel, and you pour wine in a drinking vessel People tend to drink warm wine, because these containers can be put on fire, below this its easier to eat quickly

Subject/Title: Ding 

Date/Period:Shang Dynasty

Material: Bronze

Discussion:

  its design, a mask surmounted by a band containing four of the ubiquitous dragon-like monsters, is repeated 3 times. the whole design is actually a symmetrically pattern exactly duplicated on each side of the flange. Function is a water container, not really used in daily live; only to rich people so size is actually relatively small. thus is a luxury material, only found in royal tombs

Subject/Title: Square Ding

Date/Period: Shang Dynasty

Material: Bronze

Discussion:

Subject/Title: Figure Standing on Pedistal 

Date/Period: Shang Dynasty

Material: Bronze

Discussion:

-this is really large size, relative to other bronze vessel

-wide open eyes, big mouth, very large high raised nosed, and huge size ears. Facial shape of face is very dramatic and exaggerate

-right picture, on the body have motifs carved onto the bronze. Very complex pattersn the pattern of the figure image

Subject/Title: Fang Hu

Date: Zhou Dynasty

Material: Bronze

Discussion:

-descorative parts attached on the bronze vessle

-3d decorative process possbile because of new technlogydeevloped during that time

-new technology played an impotant role art object during this period; this one you see on the top a free standing bird, and also in the bottom, you see some dragon on the side, and also the bottom part an animal image on the bottom. These ind of 3d scupleture type on  bornze vessel, this techinque is very difficult! Clay molded to this is called “LOST WAX TECHINQUE” –

->LWT: means, use wax, use wax to carve the sculpture, and then on the outside of the wax. And put outside wax, and the melt the wax part and pour copper into it to form 3d

Subject/Title: Inner Coffin

Date/Period: Zhou Period

Material: Tomb of the Marquis yi of zeng

Discussion:

-laqure, liquid from tree, puts on wooden objects; its transparent; layerse of layers create very transprentsurfae. You can paint it on many kind of pattern

--animal image;  it looks like animals on human beings body; these animal image, human being with multiple legs/arms. This image as decoration shows certain kind of believe in this culture is now having scholars, dedicated to shaminism.

Subject/Title: Chime of Bells

Date/Period: Eastern Zhou Period

Material: Bronze/Wood

Discussion:

-largest sect of bronze bells

-music plays important role imritual seremedy

-this is a set or bronze bell, various size, to create tunes for rituals to preform music

- their shapes were increasingly refined and their subtle ellpitcal cross section were calculated to produce a desired note.

-bells not only made music, but provided fields of visual arts.

- representative of late zhou, because complexity of art got more xomplex; can be descriped as playful, elegant, and asethic.  musical ritual and perforamnce were a peculiary important aspect of late zhou society.

Subject/Title: Seated Buddha With Attendants

Date/Period: Kushan

Material: Red Sandstone

Discussion:

-

Subject/Title: Buddhist Triad

Date/Period: Kushan period

Material: Grey Stone

Discussion

Subject/Title: Standing bodhisattva

Date/Period: Kushan period

Material: stone

Discussion: 

Subject/Title: Standing Buddha

Date/Period: Red Sandstone

Material: Gupta Period

Discussion:

Subject/Title: the first sermon

Date/Period: gupta period

Material:churnar sandstone

Discussion:

Subject/Title: interior of chaitya hall, cave 26

Date/Period: gupta period

Material: ajanta

Discussion:

nterior of cave 26 shows great elaboration of characteristics of later chiatya halls. the column are caved with bands of spiraling devices; the capitals are highly developed too, and the friezes above are ornatly carved with repetitive imagoes. the stupa istself is no longer simply the representation of a burial mound, but is placed a high drummed carved with images of the buddha. the principal image shows the buddha seated with legs pendent, turning the wheel of the law. interior was heavily polychromed with to have rich, jeweled effect. Ajanta (1st century BCE – 7th century CE) Buddhist and Hindu caves found here Chaitya Hall: new development: the image of Buddha directly carved into the surface of the stupa! Compared to earlier Chaitya Halls, this one is more complicated, decorated, elaborate carvings on the captials that depict Buddha’s life stories etc. Columns: the surface completely covered in carvings as well Same function of the Chaitya Hall, but with the Gupta Period – more complicated and details Many different caves carved at Ajanta – not really architecture – but carved rocks – named by number – not chronologically – but random based on when they discovered each cave. Buddhist image – always in the BACK of the temp

Subject/Title: the beautiful bodhisattva padmanpani

Date/Period: 5th century

Material: ajanta, india

Discussion:

In the painting, his tan body, darkened only by the locks of curly hair, is delicate and elegant. He is adorned with pearls, amythyst, and other attributes of traditional Indian jewelry. On his head sits a magnificent crown, which at some point was most likely colored in extreme detail, but over time has faded. His eyes are lowered in a meditative state. His calm, spiritual face sets the tone and mood of the room. In his right hand, he holds a lotus blossom, which may represent his spiritual awakening. 

Subject/Title: Boar avatar of Visnu

Date/Period:  gupta

Material: stone

Discussion:

Caves 5 & 6, Udayagiri Caves Vishnu – 1 avatar, different version bull head, uses mouth to hold and save female (goddess of river) ... to save river that was attacked by “Naga” Style of Gupta Period On the wall: many images carved in the background. vishnu is represtend as a towering boarheaded human, supporting on his shoulders the goddess of the earth, whom he has rescued from the serpent king of the sea at the lower right. a variety of small diets and angels, carved in trelif on the back and side of shallow valve, witness scene. composition is relatively static and organized in a single plane along the wall. the pose of the main fugue fits into this plan, while the rigid rows of small deities forming geometric reinforce the static effect

Subject/Title: Great Chaitya Hall

Date/Period: Andhra

Material: Karle

Discussion:

Subject/Title: Minthuna Couple

Date/Period: Shanga

Material: Facade of Great Chaitya Hall

Discussion:

this couple is of noble type, debate between them being “the donors” or a loving couple. its rare in history of art to have male and female forms to be this huge, and such good physical physique. the quality of “prana” or breath is reflected in this culture. they are in the youthful prime, and their attire is royalty. the man wears a turban and a cloth around his hip; women wears heavy earrings and drops wit light cloth. the man is quite masculine, bro shoulders, and chest, narrow hips and vile stance; and equally to the felinity of the women, large e breast and small hips.this is an ideal, representation of what they perceived as a man and a women. different reliefs composed at different times on the figures.

Subject/Title: Great Chaitya Hall

Date/Period: Late Shunga

Material: Karle

Discussion:

Subject/Title: Shiva Maheshvara 

Date/Period: 7th  CE

Material: At elephanta

Discussion:

Siva: the destroyer. As an ascetic yogi on Mt. Kailasa he is often associated with world renouncing. He is married to Parvarti, who is an archetype of devotion KEY: the Indus Valley Civilization – Seal – a precursor to the Siva? Shiva’s image is also in different types of “forms” The main iconographical attributes of Shiva are the third eye on his forehead, the snake Vasuki around his neck, the adorning crescent moon, the holy river Ganga flowing from his matted hair, the trishula as his weapon and the damaru as his musical instrument. Shiva is usually worshiped in the aniconic form of Lingam

• ]

• the damaru as his musical instrument. Shiva is usually worshiped in the aniconic form of Lingam

Date/Period: Andra Period

Material: Sanchi Site

There are four gateways, tornados, that are entrances to the great stupa. Each has two major post, crowbed by 3 architraves. On topmost architrave, there is a triratna, 3 pronged symbol of buddha, his law, and monastic order. Lower parts of the main pillars are representation of scenes from the lives of buddha on three sides. The Decorations, may be from a more recent period, as the rest of the torana is very simple railing – smooth surface and no reliefs. Function: not only to pay respect to Buddha itself – but also to learn about his previous lives Aniconic images still: to learn the Jataka this is important – the stories told through aniconic images – uses symbols – to present the stories of his lives – complicated – rather than literally showing buddha’s image –

TA:Decoration – may be from a more recent period – as the rest of the torana is very simple railing – smooth surface and no reliefs. Function: not only to pay respect to Buddha itself – but also to learn about his previous lives Aniconic images still: to learn the Jataka this is important – the stories told through aniconic images – uses symbols – to present the stories of his lives – complicated – rather than literally showing buddha’s image – going through these (as we would in a Cathedral...)

ID: Shiva and Parvati on Mt. Kailasha Kailasanatha

Location: Ellora

Time: 750-775

Discussion:

looks like a free-standing temple – but is really not architecture, it is a cut-rock temple (not built up architecture!) Floor plan – follows free standing architecture Shiva Temple: different than other Hindu Temples: an interior space (small) for Linga Carved reliefs at the temple tell the story of Shiva

ID: Shiva and Parvati on Mt. Kailasha Kailasanatha

Location: Ellora

Time: 750-775

Discussion:

looks like a free-standing temple – but is really not architecture, it is a cut-rock temple (not built up architecture!) Floor plan – follows free standing architecture Shiva Temple: different than other Hindu Temples: an interior space (small) for Linga Carved reliefs at the temple tell the story of Shiva