Chapter 10:INDIAN BRONZE SCULPTURE

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INDIAN BRONZE SCULPTURE

INDIAN sculptors had mastered the bronze medium and the casting process as much as they had mastered terracotta sculpture and carving in stone. The cire-perdu or ‘lost-wax’ process for casting was learnt as long ago as the Indus Valley Culture. Along with it was discovered the process of making alloy of metals by mixing copper, zinc and tin which is called bronze.

Bronze sculptures and statuettes of Buddhist, Hindu and Jain icons have been discovered from many regions of India dating from the second century until the sixteenth century.

• Most of these were required for ritual worship and are characterised by exquisite beauty and aesthetic appeal.
• At the same time the metal-casting process continued to be utilised for making articles for various purposes of daily use, such as utensils for cooking, eating, drinking, etc.
• Present-day tribal communities also utilise the ‘lost-wax’ process for their art expressions.

Perhaps the ‘Dancing Girl’ in tribhanga posture  from Mohenjodaro is the earliest bronze sculpture datable to 2500 BCE. The limbs and torso of this female figurine are simplified in tubular form.