Important Large Mohenjo Daro Bi-chrome Pottery Vessel

Indus Valley, Ca. Ca. 2600 to 2500 BC.

Imposing wheel‑made bowl with slightly everted rim and small rounded base, formed in a fine red terracotta fabric and decorated on the exterior in a dark brown to black mineral paint. The principal register carries a continuous frieze of highly stylized humped bulls striding to the right, their bodies rendered as elongated, banded rectangles with cross‑hatched midsections, terminating in short, tapering tails; heads with prominent circular eyes and sweeping lyre‑shaped horns emphasize the zebu morphology. The animals are separated by tall, vertically disposed vegetal motifs conventionally interpreted as trees or “trees of life,” composed of stacked, arching strokes flanked by smaller linear elements. Above and below the frieze run multiple encircling bands of straight and wavy lines, with additional short hook‑shaped and circular marks in the field that recall the sign‑like motifs characteristic of Mehrgarh and related early Indus painted wares.

The interior surface is plain save for concentric wheel marks, and the lip is left unpainted, lightly rounded, and thickened.

Size: 10‑3/4 in (27.3 cm) H; rim diameter 13‑3/8 in (34 cm), placing this vessel among the largest known examples of the bichrome figural bowl tradition, which more commonly survives in substantially smaller formats.

Surface with patches of calcareous accretion, minor pitting and encrustation, localized abrasion and small rim chips, and a few stable hairline fissures consistent with long burial and ancient use; area of restoration near rim.

Provenance: Ex Daryl Kulok New York City Collector with an Israel Antiquities Authority Export Permit from 2013.  

The Indus Valley Civilization was one of the world's first great urban civilizations. It flourished in the vast river plains and adjacent regions in what are now Pakistan and western India. The earliest cities became integrated into an extensive urban culture around 4,600 years ago and continued to dominate the region for at least 700 years, from 2600 to 1900 BC. It was only in the 1920's that the buried cities and villages of the Indus valley were recognized by archaeologists as representing an undiscovered civilization. Large cities and smaller towns grew up along the major trade routes as administrative and ritual centers. During the full urban phase of this civilization, there is evidence for trade contact with the surrounding cultures in the Arabian Gulf, West and Central Asia and peninsular India. Urban Character of the Indus Valley Civilization Around 2600 BC the various regional cultures were united in what is called the Indus Valley Civilization. It is also commonly referred to as the Harappan culture after the town of Harappa where it was first discovered. This civilization was organized around cities and towns that were located at major crossroads and in rich agricultural regions. The ruling communities of these cities developed a distinctive form of writing. They appear to have controlled a vast geographical area, some 650, 000 square kilometers. This area is twice as large as that controlled by Mesopotamian or Egyptian cultures at this same time in history. Hundreds of Harappan settlements have been discovered, and archaeologists have been able to excavate different types of sites in each of the major regions.