Pottery and jewel making in the Indus Valley

Introduction 

1. The people of the Indus Valley were well-acquainted with the use of wheel-drawn potters. Paintings and varnishing of potters were also known. 
2. They also knew to use lime as a plaster. They used pyro-technology to heat lime. The people of the Indus Valley also made ‘fans’ by heating silica up to the temperature of 1200C.
3. They had a good understanding of furnaces (for construction potters, bricks) and were perfect in bead making. 
4. They also knew the art of bead cutting, drilling, and polishing. Plus, Mehrgarh shows proof of local copper ore, containers made of bitumen, plants and animals dominated, and equipment with tanning.

Pottery and Jewel Making in the Indus Valley Civilisation

Wheel Drawn Potteries

1. Wheel-drawn potteries were commonplace in the Indus Valley. It was also known that pottery could be painted and glazed. They were familiar with the use of lime plaster (e.g., great bath, dockyard). The lime was heated using pyro technology.  ‘Faience’ was created in the Indus Valley by heating silica to 1200 degrees Celsius.
2. We can trace the development of numerous design themes over time because of a huge amount of pottery unearthed from the sites. Only a few pieces of pottery from the Indus Valley were handcrafted. It is more common for pottery to be plain than decorated. 
3. It is common for plain pottery to be made of red clay, either with or without a fine red or grey slip. Knobbed ware is included in this category. The glossy black paint on the geometric and animal motifs is applied over black painted ware that has a thin red slip coating.
4. Small vases adorned with geometric designs in red, black, and green are the most common type of polychrome pottery; white and yellow examples are quite rare. This type of incised ceramics is likewise quite rare, and the incised decoration was confined only to the pan bottoms and the dishes of offering stands. With its large bottom hole and numerous small holes, perforated pottery was probably used for straining liquids. 

Decorative Pottery

Decorative pottery for the home can be available in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Graceful curves are the rule rather than the exception when it comes to design. Awe-inspiring miniature containers, most of which are smaller than half an inch in height, are particularly impressive.

Jewellery in Indus Valley Civilisation

1. Indus Valley Civilization artefacts and antiques, such as jewellery, are among the most prevalent to be found in the Harappan civilisation. Gold, silver, copper, ivory, ceramics, and beads were the most prevalent materials used to produce jewellery throughout this time period, and many of these artefacts have been found in this civilisation. 
2. The Indus Valley Civilization was the first to discover the art of jewelry-making, and the quality of their work is still highly regarded today all around the world.
3. Metal and terracotta decorations were being moulded in the Indus Valley as early as 1,500 BC. They also used jewellery made of gold such as bracelets and bangles as well as ear adornments and rings as well as headgear. The bead trade was thriving in this area, and the items were created with basic tools. 

Bead Cutting in Indus Valley Civilisation

1. Beads were worn by both men and women in the Indus Valley. Beads in the form of tiny pearls were frequently used to decorate the hair of both men and women. Beads as small as one millimeter in diameter were common.
2. Furnaces (for making pottery and bricks) and bead making were two of their specialties. Indeed, they had mastered the art of bead-cutting, drilling, and polishing. Mehrgarh also has evidence of tools created from local copper ore, bitumen-made containers, domesticated plants and animals, and tanning.
3. Gold, silver, copper, ivory, and a variety of precious and semi-precious stones were among the materials used to craft ornaments. Thin gold bands worn over the forehead, earrings, rudimentary brooches, chokers, and gold rings were all common accessories worn by ladies. 
4. It wasn’t long before jewels and greenstone began adorning the necklaces. Indus Valley civilization is still studied and disputed in part because of the people’s skill in gem and precious stone setting during that time period.

Conclusion

About two millennia before Christ, the Indus Valley Civilisation began to produce its first works of art. jewellery, sculptures, seals, pottery, terracotta figures, and more have all been unearthed at various civilizational sites.

It’s safe to say that the artists of that era possessed keen aesthetic senses and vivid imaginations. Human and animal figures were depicted realistically because of distinct anatomical details and, in the case of clay sculptures, animal figures were modelled meticulously.