Pottery in the Indian subcontinent

Vedic pottery

Wilhelm Rau (1972) has examined the references to pottery in Vedic texts like the Black Yajur Veda and the Taittiriya Samhita. According to his study, Vedic pottery is for example hand-made and unpainted. According to Kuzmina (1983), Vedic pottery that matches Willhelm's Rau description cannot be found in Asia Minor and Central Asia, though the pottery of Andronovo culture is similar in some respects.

Indus Valley Civilization

Indus valley has a great and ancient tradition of pottery making. The origin of pottery in India can be traced back to the neolithic age, with coarse handmade pottery - bowls, jars, vessels - in various colors such as red, orange, brown, black and cream. The real beginning of Indian pottery is with the Indus Valley Civilization. There is proof of pottery being constructed in two ways, handmade and wheel-made. Harrappan and Mohanjodaro cultures heralded the age of wheel-made pottery, characterized by well-burnt black painted red wares.

Painted Grey Ware

During first millennium BC, painted grey ware was found in parts of North India and the Gangetic plain. Decorated pottery becomes significant in the Shunga, Kushan and Gupta periods.

Red Polished Ware (Gujarat)

The Red Polished Ware (RPW) is found in great quantities in Gujarat, especially in the Kathiawar region. Commonly, it consist of domestic forms like cooking pots, and it dates to around first century BC.

But this type of ware also is widely distributed in other places in India. It is found at Baroda, Timberva (Surat), Vadnagar, Vala, Prabhas, Sutrapada, Bhandaria, and many other places. The use of this pottery continued for many centuries.

Early on, the scholars considered this pottery as a diagnostic marker for ‘Indo-Roman trade’, showing the possibility of the Roman empire influence. Also, this type of pottery was identified at sites bordering the Persian Gulf, so it became significant for the research on the Indian Ocean trade.

Red Polished Ware was first identified in 1953 by B. Subbarao. According to him, a "high degree of finish led to consider it as an imported ware or at least an imitation of the Roman Samian Ware".

But in 1966 S. R. Rao in his report on Amreli rejected this possibility of a Roman influence. He insisted on an indigenous origin as none of the forms shared the shapes of Roman prototype. He presented a broad variety of vessel types consisting of clay suitable to that definition. Instead he referred to a similarity of vessels of Black Ware with polished surface [Black Polished ware] from the same site noted in layers beyond the first occurrence of RPW.

According to Heidrun Schenk, the pottery defined as RPW consists of two very distinct functional groups. Thus, the subject needs more precise classification and dating.

One group belongs to the local pottery development of a region around Gujarat -- mostly domestic vessels like cooking pots. The core area of this group is western India, but it is also distributed elsewhere on the western littoral of the Indian Ocean.

The other group are the very specialized types of the 'sprinkler' and 'spouted' water jars, that often go together. This special group is widely found in the eastern region of the Indian Ocean, throughout the South Asian subcontinent and South East Asia with many different fabrics. This group represents a later development continuing well into the Middle Ages.

In particular, in Tissamaharama, in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka, a good stratigraphy is found.

Early Red Polished Ware is often associated with the Northern Black Polished ware (NBP), and goes back to 3rd century BC.

Turko-Mughal period

The phase of glazed pottery started in the 12th century AD, when Turkic Muslim rulers encouraged potters from Persia, Central Asia and elsewhere to settle in present-day Northern India. Glazed pottery of Persian models with Indian designs, dating back to the Sultanate period, has been found in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Styles

Over time India's simple style of molding clay went into an evolution. A number of distinct styles emerged from this simple style. Some of the most popular forms of pottery include unglazed pottery, glazed pottery, terracotta, and papier-mache.

Unglazed pottery

This is the oldest form of pottery practiced in India. There are three types of unglazed pottery. First is paper thin pottery, biscuit-colored pottery decorated with incised patterns. Next is the scrafito technique; the pot is polished and painted with red and white slips along with intricate patterns. The third is polished pottery; this type of pottery is strong and deeply incised, and has stylized patterns of arabesques.

Glazed pottery

This era of pottery began in the 12th century AD. This type of pottery contains a white background and has blue and green patterns. Glazed pottery is only practiced in selected regions of the country.

Terracotta sculpture

Terracotta is the term used for unglazed earthenware, and for ceramic sculpture made in it. Indian sculpture made heavy use of terracotta from a very early period (with stone and metal sculpture being rather rare), and in more sophisticated areas had largely abandoned modelling for using moulds by the 1st century BC. This allows relatively large figures, nearly up to life-size, to be made, especially in the Gupta period and the centuries immediately following it. Several vigorous local popular traditions of terracotta folk sculpture remain active today, such as the Bankura horses. Often women prepare clay figures to propitiate their gods and goddesses, during festivals. In Moela deities are created with moulded clay on a flat surface. They are then fired and painted in bright colours. Other parts of India use this style to make figures like horses with riders, sometimes votive offerings.