This booklet publishes for the first time the most intact as well as the probably most attractive North-Indian terracottas from the 3rd century B.C. to the 1st century A.D. The survey covers figurines, moulded plaques and so called 'toy-carts' from outstanding Indian, American and European collections.

The subject of this volume is the fired earthen sculpture, commonly known as terracotta, whose history goes back to the dawn of civilization on the subcontinent. The aim is to provide new material and insights into early Indian terracotta art in a chronological framework, from pre-Harappan times to the Gupta period. Beginning with the prehistoric period, discoveries at several new Harappan sites in India excavated since 1947 and the remarkable terracotta figurines unearthed at Mehrgarh in Pakistan are discussed. Although the southern peninsula cannot boast either the antiquity or the richness of the prehistoric terracotta tradition of the north, one particular region around the Nilgiris studied here has yielded clay sculptures fascinating for their abstract yet robust forms which reveal connections with earlier northern figures. The typological continuity with Harappan culture is evident from material exacavated at Taxila. The lesser-known site of Sugh in Haryana reveals types that spread across the northern plains all the way to the most important site for terracotta sculpture discovered in the subcontinent, Chandraketugarh in West Bengal. The terracotta finds of the middle and lower Gangetic valley are studied in Pradesh whose exceptionally elegant figurines and decorative temple panels reveal astonishing eloquence of the pan-Indian aesthetic of the Gupta period. No single volume thus far has provided such an overview, and this book should therefore be useful for art historians and all those who are interested in this rich tradition which survives in India to this day.

Early Indian Terracotta Art Traces The Origin, Typology & Stylistic Evolution Of Backed Clay Figurines In Northern & Western India (C. 2000-300 B.C.). They Have Been Classified Into Three Main Stages Namely The Crude & Simple Post-Harappan & Chaleolithic Cultures With The Bull As The Prominent Figure, The Iron Age When A Variety Of Local Art Styles Emerged, And The Early Nbp Period Showing Qualitative & Quantitative Growth With The Prominence Of Ornamented Elephant & Nagi Figurines Along With Other Animal And Human Forms.

The Ashmolean Museum wide ranging collection of the art of the Indian subcontinent includes important holdings of archaeological artefacts and a strong representation of early Indian sculpture in terracotta, stone and other materials dating from before AD 600. These works are fully discussed and illustrated in the present catalogue, with the exception of Buddhist sculpture of the Gandhara region.