Weiner Mihályné szerk.: Az Iparművészeti Múzeum Évkönyvei 8. (Budapest, 1965)

HOPP FERENC MÚZEUM — MUSÉE FERENC HOPP - Tóth, Edit: Terracottas of the Kushan period

make it similar to the red sandstone statues of Mathura from the Kushan -period. Its material is red pottery with many quartz granules. Its height is 5,7 cm. Fig. 12. An ape figurine. Its body from the breast is missing. It bends its head slightly to the left. The eyes are round, beside the plastic shaping they are also outlined by contours. Its nose is flat, its mouth is thick. It holds its left face with the right foreleg, as if it complained of a toothache.

10 On its head the hair is marked by incised, vertical lines. Its material is granular red pottery. Its height is 6 cm. Its shaping is primitive, but vivid and expressive. The arm is still ribbon-like, but no more flat, it becomes narrow in the wrist and the hand is marked, though in a primitive manner. The whole figurine is dynamic and characterized by a naive charm. It resembles very much the miniature ape figurines of Khotan.

11 As it is known the connection of India and Khotan was just in the Kushan-period, mainly from the rule of Kanishka onwards especially close.

12 Mathura belonged to the Kushan empire. Under the rule of Huvishka, however, it became the centre of the Kushan empire, a circumstance which might have had its influence even from the point of view of artistic and cultural relations. It is certain that the ape figurines of Khotan accomplishing different human activities can be traced back to Indian model. In the Kushan period the system of symbolic emblem of the statues, that was so characteristic of the products of later periods, had not yet developed. It is impossible to fix whether the figurines described above represent divine or human beings. Mostly we may think of the statuette shown in Fig. 11 that it possibly portrays a demigod or a dwarflike figure. Such figures occur later among the companions of Őiva or Kuvera. As to the style of the Kusan terracottas Das Gupta establishes three sorts of style criterion :

13 Owing to the influence of nomadic art a certain rougher shaping, the representation of the nomad attire, e. g. the headdress closely fitting to the head, the influence of Hellenism on portraying, the predilection for grotesque animal figures. One of the afore-mentioned criteria can be applied to each of the worked up statuettes — except one piece. It is especially the first character — the influence of nomadic art — that is remarkable. Under the influence of the Central Asiatic Art instead of the careful, detailing decorative technique, which is such typical e. g. of the 10 On one of the tondi of Bharhut stupa we can see a design as the apes with the assistance of an elephant extract the tooth of a dwarf. Bachhofer : Die frühindische Plastik, I. München 1929 p. 31. 11 Montell, Gösta: Sven Hedin's Archaeological Collections from Khotan. B.M.F.E.A. 7. p. 189-191. Stein, Aurel: Ancient Khotan; Vol. IL Pl. XVI. XLVII. flxKOHoea, H.B. — CopoKUH, C.C.: XoTaHCKHe flpeBHoCTbi. Leningrad 1960. p. 27—30. 12 Majumdar, R. G., Raychaudhuri, H. C., Kalikinkar Datta: An advanced history of India, London 1946. p. 121-122. 13 Das Gupta, G. C.: Some unpublished ancient Indian terracottas preserved in the British Museum. A. A. XHI (1950) p. 267. 12 Iparművészeti 177