Group of Indus Valley Painted Terracotta Bulls

Set of four earthenware modelled bulls, the surface variously marked by dark painted lines, emphasizing the forward-curved horns, the elongated snout and the hump. Terracotta figurines such as these ones have been unearthed also at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, suggesting a commonality of style and purpose throughout the Indus Valley during the mature Harappan period (ca. 2600-2450 BCE). Like many figurines datable to this period, the front and back legs are joined together. In one excavated example from Chanu-daro a hole was poked in the belly, indicating that it would have been attached to a stick for use as a puppet or a small standard of the kind carried in the processions depicted on some seals.
For a comparable example see: J.Aruz ed, Art of the Ancient Cities, 2003: no.276, p.390. J.Kenoyer, Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, 1998. – (LO.855)