begley roulettingdecorationonancientpresentdaypotteryindia

7/29/2019 Begley RoulettingDecorationOnAncientPresentDayPotteryIndia

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Vol. 28. No . 1

Rouletting andChatteringDecoration on Ancient and Present-Day Pottery In India

VIMALA BEGLEY

As th e Periplus o f Lite Er-ythraeall S e a and otherC lassical accounts te ll 11s ,there was a thriving sea tntde he tween the ports of the Hed Sea andsot1h lndict during the 1st centmyA. D. Unfortunately we know \'e rvlittle about when . this trad


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* Major Rouletted ware sites Modern cities

Lucknow * AyodhyaAllahabad * RajghatGa,.ga R

Tamluk ** Nasik

Nevasa Sisupalgarh *

* . ~ t * ** * ** BAY OF BENGAL*** .Pondteherry

* *Arikamedu*0. .__2 .0__ 4 0 0 kmARABIAN SEA

2India and Sri Lanka.t ric or sp iral bands rnade of tinywedge-shaped indentations , andare produced by the continuousflicking motion of a tool with one ormore long thin points, when it isheld against the surface of the clavvesse l rotating on tlw p o t t e r ' ~ - ; wheel. Both techniques were usedin Classical times , as W


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n ~ t C t ~ n t e m p o a r y village of Bijtwur, about 18 k!lometers .from tlw 110rtltndwn czty of Lucknow, a potter sltape. ; a vessel oj /)/(lck pottery on a !wild-rotated wheel.

, whi le at Ar ikamed11 it ishe o'ltly decoration. Flllthermore,Mediterra ne an pottery theands are narrower than at Arika

edu , where between five to tenows in a bcmd is the norm. Finaliy,Artkamedu the shapes of Lhe inare frequently difl:e re11lrom those on Classical wares. Suchcan also be demonin vessel shapes, fabric, andhea tmcnt. \ ,Ve must, thereore, consider local proc.Juction as aore viable alternative.Before proceeding fi.1 rther, let usfirst consider the tim e -frame inhich - a n d th e source fromhere- the new techni


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wall of the vessel firm ly, whi leis revolving on tbe whee l, makingband of regularly spaced sma llThe standard design conof one band of rouletting one ou ter sudi.lce of the vessel, justlow the rim, or on the lid. In apea rance, the roul et t ing is verylar to that on ea rl y Homanres .Oth er deco ration, consisting ofessed and incised designs, isimmed iate ly after the vessels re moved from the whee l. T heessed designs are mad e 'vvithterracotta cylinders about 4e ters long with a motif one nd tha t are mad e by theth e ms elves . Th e mo tifsnsist of a leaf, a rosette, a sta r,

wheel. The pattern is formedthe same stamp at more

less regular in te rv als on th ewall of the vessel. Connectingese stamped impressions are inised lin es mad e with a pointedtoo l which looks like alus. F inally, afte r parti al drying ,ut and chisel work is done with ae .Surface treatment is und ertakenr the vessd has dri ed in the

air to lea ther-hard condition.vessel is dipped in a bucket ofe r, whi ch also conta ins fine lyround clays obtained from th ree

erent sources, two of which arecal and one from as far away ase c ity of Allahabad. After theash' is applied t he vessel e mergesght brov.'Il in color and is le t to drymore. Th e slip turn s blackfiring. The pottery is neithe red nor burnished , bu t beforemustard oil is applied veryly with a piece of doth to both

urfaces of th e vesse l; this , onconsidered to produce thestrou s finish. It was not possibleobs e rve the firing proceclu re.ccording to the potter, the vesselsfired in an open bonfire madee d cowdu ng ca kes and. The fini shed product, howr, is a pot with a w1iform darkray body, black lustrou s surface,decoration consist ing of a vaety of des igns, inclucling rouletg (Fig. 8).Since the shapes df the vesselssurface wereuite differen t from that of ancient

The gouging effect, quitestriking on some

Arikamedu sherds , occurswhen the vessel is

quite wet"

11Fragnumtary dish o gra y ware fr omthe French excavations at Ar ikameclu(Witeeler"s Type 61 ), now f)reseroedin th e Po11dicherry Museum. Thedi.shdates fimn ca. 1st century B.C.a.11d is decorated with grocned con-centric circles, whiclt ~ ; o , ; e r morethan half the stu:face of he base.G roov ed conce1tlric circles occur onseveral other tupesof pot-tery at Ar ikamedu and may have been inspin?dby bands o fgrooved circles onHelleni.stic-ROIIW/1 pottery.

12Dish of gray ware (Type 6a at Arikamedu ) deco rated with concentricgrooved circles covering more titanhalf the surface o f he base, datingfrom cc1. 1st cent11ry B. C. (AfterWheeler et al. 1946. fig. 15:6a)

Expeditio11

Houletted ware, I asked the potterto make a dish shape and decorateits inn er surface. Furthermor e, Iasked if he could make several rowsof concent r i c c ir c les , consisting of closely placed dots. Consequent ly, tvvo sma ll dishes (tashtaris) were quickly th rown on thewheel with two types of decoration.In th e first case, the dish was deco rated w ith bands of roule ttinginterspe rsed with impressed medallions, using the roulette and stampshe already had as tools (F ig. 9). Onth e other dish, a band of four rowsof concentric tiny wedged dots wasmad e by th e continuous flickingmotion of a fiagmentary com b heldagainst the inner surface of the dishrotating on the wheel. The important factor appeared to be the dexterity wi th which the comb washe ld, for occasionally the dots became tin y wedges in te rconnectedwith groove d lines . Suc h irreg ularity can be seen on some sherdsat Arikamedu as wel l. It is therefore quite possible that a s imilartool for cbatteli ng may have beenused by potters in ancient times.

In addition to possible methodsof decoration, the Bijnau r p o t hwhich is s till uninflue nc ed b ymode rn technologies, demonstratesa simple tec hnique of producingluste r. It would be important to investigate whe th er oiling vvas alsoused as a me thod of heighteningluster on Houletted ware and otherancie nt potte ri e s, such as th eNorthern Black Polished ware .Arikamedu as aProduction Center forRouletted WareF rom the di scussion in theprec eding sections, if wed raw the conclusion thatth e po te ntial for manufacturingHouletted ware existed in ancientsouth lndio-lute contempo raneity of all thesesit es cannot be estab li shed atpresent , it see ms that the majort:luust of the Houle ttecl ware tradewas coastal, and in the soutl1e


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16Dish of gray ware with lustrous!Jlack swf{/(:e: Twe /..J I at Arika-nwdlt. It has a flarin f!. rim and"r i n g ~ f o o t ba se ami is clecora teclu;ilha rotc of nicks at the tim and astamped lea f motifarotuul groor.;eclcircles on the base . Both the shOJiea11d decora tion see111 to 7Je inj711e11t.X'dIJy pottery of tlw Honw11 world. Tltedish occurs at the sm11e time asArretine imports. (r\ft('l' \\'heeleret al. 19-16. fig. 3():1 -11 )

From thes of IndianStudies. A rt:.idcnt ofIowa C ity sinw HXY> . ,h ehas also been a vis itinglec ture r a t Lht U liversi tvof' Iowa and th t l ' nivtr-,ity of Calilornia.B(rkc lc\ . In l970. ,Ja

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