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 Avra

(iv) 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 Navdatoli

(B) 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 Navdatoli

(iii) 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