Ancient Tribal Art - Chalcolithic Pottery Paintings
Tribal India is in revolt today. The Maoist have established a red corridor that
stretches through our tribal areas from Pashupati in Nepal to virtually Tirupati
in south India. The locus of this revolt is in the densely forested regions of
Chhattisgarh along the course of the river Godavari. This revolt has occurred
precisely because we have grossly neglected our subaltern tribal cultures. It is
because of this neglect that we are facing this conflict. There is a palpable need
therefore for us to study and popularise these subaltern cultures and gain the
perspective of empathy. I have therefore tried to bring to bear the perspective
of an artist and painter on to my study of tribal pottery paintings of the
Chalcolithic period.
There are hardly any records of the ancient tribal settlements. They had no
written language / script. Their ecological footprint was so small and light.
There were hardly any permanent settlements or buildings. Their sole records
are in the sherds of their pottery paintings.
Chalcolithic tribal’s used this pottery art to enhance the aesthetic quality of the
earthen wares. The motifs and designs represent the cultural creativity of the
entire people perse. These paintings come as a pictorial record of those times.
The pottery art tells us its own story almost as if it was a pictographic script of
sorts.
These paintings belong to a distant past when hunters gatherers were slowly
settling down in permanent settlement and rudimentary agriculture was
transforming the contours of human civilisation. It was the dawn of civilisation.
It was a remarkable and fascinating record of a versatile and continuous tribal
culture which has come down to us virtually unchanged in essential form. Art
holds a mirror to society. The remains of the Chalcolithic art forms on the
sherds of pottery tell a graphic tale of the people and the times. They provide
us a fascinating peep into that ancient period setting. The Chalcolithic artist
captured his life and times in simple and evocative brush strokes that are
remarkable in their economy of effort, and yet convey such a great deal. There
is an ornate sense of rhythm in the depiction of life and surroundings on their
painted wares. The wealth of figures, symbols, motifs & designs on the
chalcolithic pottery indicate a high refinement of the aesthetic sensibility of
those ancient people.
These simple pottery paintings have a fascinating tale to tell. The painted
motifs, figures and designs speak a simple but elementary language that
transports us over the aeons and throws a powerful searchlight on those
vanished cultures, on the lifestyles and collective experiences of those simple
tribal people.
The pottery paintings of the Chalcolithic period could be studied from the
artistic point of view as the folk art of that period. The motifs and design
patterns, of the folk artists are cultural and ethnic constants. We find the basic
liet motifs and themes repeated endlessly. In such art there is little scope for
individual creativity or thematic variations. The folk art form is usually
transmitted from generation to generation and each motif, line and design
pattern is carefully taught by example. The child painter learns on the job by
emulating his elders.
Within the ambit of Chalcolithic Art, however, a closer examination indicates
the presence of distinctive regional sub-styles in terms of painting techniques
(filled in wash or cross hatching and use of dots etc.) and regional uniqueness
of motifs and design patterns. Creativity and innovativeness in this art appear
on a regional or geographical basis. To pick out these minor stylistic variations,
an attempt was made to establish the typology and basic features of the
common motifs and designs.
Stylistic variations therefore are not individual but regional. Each sub-culture
generates its own repertoire of motifs and designs by which it can be easily
recognized.
Can we distinguish stylistic variations within Chalcolithic paintings themselves?
The simplest regional classification within the Chalcolithic culture that was
spread over Central India and the Deccan can be formed on the basis of
identifying the individual river valley systems.
Each river valley forms an enclosed eco-system. The intervening hill ranges
serve to enclose or clearly demarcate it from the others. To that extent its
inhabitants are likely to acquire unique sub-cultural identities within the larger
cultural context. The artists amongst them would express this sub-cultural
context in terms of slight variations in painting styles, the creation of unique or
localized symbols, and the application of particularised techniques of painting
in preference over others
A correlation of these painting styles with the sites of origin of the pottery
seems to bear out the River valley hypothesis. The four sub-styles that can be
identified in the Chalcolithic pottery paintings are Narmada, Chambal,
Godavari & Bhima River systems. The regional stylistic differences in the
execution of common themes encountered in Chalcolithic art, have been
tabulated below for ease of comparison and serve to highlight the differences
I
have
mentioned.
Chalcolithic paintings: Regional Stylistic Variations
(A)
The Narmada River System: The Maheshwar and Navdatoli sites are
encountered here. Navdatoli folk artist incidentally emerges as the most
prolific Chalcolithic artists. The majority of the pottery discovered at this site
was painted. The Narmada river or Navdatoli School (if we may so call it) was
distinguished by the following artistic features:(i)
Technique: There is more emphasis on line work and cross
hatchings vis a vis filled in-washes. Thin brush work is more popular. The
use of some hard instrument appears to have been prevalent.
(ii)
The Sun Motif: The typical Chalcolithic Sun motif with curved rays,
as opposed to radical spokes, is encountered here. The win suns and
rising sun, and sun symbols alongwith faunal motifs are encountered
frequently in Navdatoli pottery paintings.
(iii)
Themes: The themes are most wide and varied. The linkage of
these people with the Narmada river and its influence on the life style
and expressions of art is borne out by the significant rendition of boats
encountered in Chalcolithic art here. Besides the tortoise, crocodile and
rendition of fish also occur frequently. Most of the renditions of aquatic
animals are decorated by dots all around them. Some of the most
beautiful renditions of peacocks and antelopes are encountered here.
There are paintings of plants, bows and arrows, flags, centipedes,
besides scorpions, snails and porcupines. No bulls have been noticed in
the Navdatoli paintings. Majority of the human figures are in linear
work, though filled in opposed triangles forming torsos are encountered.
The mother goddess figure deserves special mention.
Navdatoli
(iv)
Avra
Decorative Motifs: Encountered include triangles, dots and
circles, diamonds, hooks, stylized ‘S’ motifs, damaru design etc. Wavy
lines (Maheshwar), straight lines, broad thick bands serve as borders and
also to enclose the figures in aesthetic frames.
(v)
Painting Style: As compared to other Chalcolithic paintings the
Navdatoli (Narmada School) is somewhat more symbolic (as opposed to
realistic) and is more in the impressionistic mould. In many cases, the
object is represented in a very imaginative or suggestive manner. This is
especially borne out by some highly imaginative renditions of the
peacock.
Kayatha
(B)
Navdatoli
The Chambal River System: This encompasses the sites of Nagda,
Avra, Manoti, Dangawada, Eran and Kayatha. Tha main features of
the painting sub-style are:(i)
Technique: The salient difference with the Narmada valley
techniques is the far greater emphasis on filling in and thereby the
use of thick brushes, as opposed to the line work and cross
hatchings of the former.
(ii)
Sun Motif: In a fairly discernible contrast with Navdatoli the sun
motifs, encountered here have rays emerging as radial spokes, in
straight instead of curved lines. Emphasis is more on the sun in its
full glory.
Nagda
(iii)
Navdatoli
Themes: The bulls of Dangawada are rendered very elegantly and
stylistically. Elaborate tassels are depicted on their horns which
have been executed with a rather ornate flourish. Majority of
them are filled in. At Avra, an interesting rendition of male figures
Kayatha Bull
Dangawada Bull
dancing with sexual organ showing executed in bold strokes is
noteworthy. No human forms are seen in Manoti, Dangawada,
Eran and Kayatha. Scorpions are generally solid and filled in at
Dangawada.
(iv)
Decorative motifs: Besides lines, we encounter diamonds,
triangles, hooks and flag designs. Plant and alphabet designs are
also depicted.
(C)
The Godavari River System: The sites of Nevasa, Nasik, Jorwe,
Daimabad and Apegaon are encountered In this river system. The
Godavari School, if we may call it, is distinguished by the following
artistic features:(i)
Technique: As opposed to Navdatoli there is heavy emphasis on
filling in, which gives the image a more solid and realistic appearance.
The emphasis is on broad brush work as opposed to detailed line work
and cross hatchings. The filled in appearance serves to distinguish this
school of folk art clearly from the Navdatoli School.
(ii)
Sun Symbols: The emphasis on this symbol is minimal, when
compared to the Chambal and Narmada river sites.
(iii)
Themes: The artists of Daimabad are relatively the more prolific
representatives of this school. We find rendition of dogs, camel,
antelopes, fish and cockroach – generally filled in. The dogs were
exhaustively rendered at Daimabad. In what is rather a rarity in this
culture, swords have been painted on the pottery ware at Daimabad.
Antelopes are beautifully depicted at this site, with a solid appearance.
Songaon
Kayatha
Realistic paintings of animals have been encountered at Nevasa, though
few in number. As opposed to the Narmada School, where peacocks are
painted in various postures, they are rarely found painted on the pottery
in this school.
(iv)
Decorative Motifs: Wavy lines are encountered often at these
sites. The diamond motif – generally filled in is also a common feature
alongwith triangles. Plant and hill motifs are oft repeated too. There is
far greater emphasis on geometrical patterns in the paintings of this
region.
(v)
Painting Style: In terms of painting style, this school may be
termed realistic, as the images are more life-like, solid and real; as
opposed to the more surrealist renditions of the Navdatoli artists with
their greater emphasis on line work.
(D)
The Bhima River System: Broadly encompasses the sites of
Inamgaon, Chandoli and Walki. The painting style there has little to
distinguish it from the Godavari school listed above. The emphasis is
more on filled in rendition as opposed to line work.
The Inamgaon artists are the more prolific painters of this region. We
have a very interesting and unusual graffiti rendition of a bullock cart
in a plan view (as seen from above) etched on one specimen. One of
the few of its kind in Chalcolithic art, it testifies to the acute power of
observation of the artist. It does not appear to be a traditional motif.
We also encounter rare depictions of camel and donkey filled in.
There are some excellent antelope paintings.
The design motifs include straight and wavy lines, triangles,
diamonds and comb designs. The emphasis on rendition is on filling in
and thick brush strokes. In conclusion it is again emphasized that the
“schools” of Chalcolithic art differentiated above have only minor
variations in style and thematic content. They are all products of the
larger Chalcolithic culture then spread over the Central Indian and
Deccan sites here under study.
Possibly, the different river valleys served to form sub-cultures within
the larger entity. This was bound to be reflected in their pottery art,
and on closer examination, we do discern subtle stylistic variations in
rendition of common themes like human figures, antelopes, bulls,
dogs etc. and varying emphasis on thematic compositions in the
painting on the ceramic wear. There are sub-regional differences in
the techniques of paintings itself, as evidenced by greater emphasis
on filled in or cross-hatchings or line work.
The Narmada river valley school of Chalcolithic art however stands
out fairly distinct from the Chalcolithic art of Chambal, Godavri and
Bhima river valleys in being more symbolic, line based and
impressionistic, as opposed to the solid, filled in and realistic
renditions of these latter schools. In fact Navdatoli School may well
turn out to be the first distinctive school of art in India. Its liet motifs
are the unique solar symbols and the regal peacock motifs. In the
Chambal river valley school the magnificent obsession of the artist of
Dangawada was the bull which has the status of an icon of Divinity as
it were. Artistically these are some of the most unique and
characteristic expressions of the Chalcolithic art.
On the whole the Chalcolithic pottery paintings provide us a
unique insight into the proto historic cultures of Central India and
Deccan. The fact that the Chalcolithic people were illiterate (to
date we have encountered no evidence of a written script) only
emphasises the value of the pottery paintings as a form of
communication of ideas, images and impressions which give a
direct peep into the minds of Chalcolithic people. The evidence
here is primary and direct, almost as if these paintings were a
pictographic record of their life and times.
Not only do these paintings mirror the external reality but also
provide us a direct insight into the inner psychological landscape
of the Chalcolithic mind. This insight is an invaluable aid to
understanding that proto-historic culture. If we wish to
understand tribal India today we must study their Pottery
paintings. That is the sole record of the evolution of these tribal
cultures.
Dr Veena Datta