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

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

TERRACOTTAS OF THE KU SHAN PERIOD On investigating the material of earlier and earlier periods, the problem of the Indian terracotta figurines becomes more and more complicated. In our treatment about the pieces of Gupta-period we have already outlined the difficulties connected with the terracotta figurines owned by our Museum.

1 In the case of the material elaborated by our present study the situation is even worse. Not only their site is uncertain, but also their dating is very problematical. After all the Kushan-period is one of the most chaotic periods of the Indian history and it is to be reconstructed only with the greatest difficulty. Arriving at the rather slippery ground of the much discussed chronological hypotheses we have to renounce at present the nearer dating. With particular pieces it is even open to doubt whether they belong to that period. Even among the individual pieces originating from authentic excavations the difference in style and execution is considerable. Our position is all the more unstable as in our present study we are relegated exclusively to style criteria and analogies. Among the pieces at our disposal we may roughly distinguish four types. The first one is a type of face shaped in an extremely primitive, childish way, the mouth, the eyes, the eyebrows are incised in the face surface graphically. The ears are large, round, flattened. They were fitted separately to the head. This type had survived throughout centuries, in its definition the reference to the Kushan-period can only be used as terminus ad quern. According to Gordon these figurines are later copies of earlier types.

2 The moulding of the second type is equally primitive. The eyes were put separately into the cavity hollowed out in advance. The arms were represented in a flat, ribbon-like way. With the third type the eyes were probably and the ears without any doubt separately moulded and then fitted to the head. On the eyes, however, 1 This study is a continuation of the study entitled „The terracottas of the Museum from the Gupta period" published in the Yearbook of our Museum, VII/1964. pp. 211 — 224. The pieces are similarly derived from the collection of Imre Schwaiger. According to the registry data they have been uncovered in Math ura. It seems to be supported by the material of the statuettes being darkred baked, rougher pottery, with a lot of quartz granules. 2 Gordon, M.: Some terracottas from Sari Dheri, North-West Frontier Province. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute LXII. (1932). p. 163.