Seal with Unicorn and Inscription
c. 2000 BC
Maker Unknown
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Seal with Unicorn and Inscription, c. 2000 BC. Pakistan, Indus Valley civilization. Possibly kaolinite; overall: 2.5 x 2.5 cm (1 x 1 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1964.104 Small stone seals, probably used to identify merchandise or property, are among the most numerous objects surviving from the protohistoric urban sites along the banks of the Indus River system. This example has a bovine creature with one horn and one ear showing in profile, his head held over an altar-like object. Animals are the most popular motifs in the visual culture of the Indus Valley Civilization, shown much more often than human figures or cityscapes.
- Maker/Artist
- Maker Unknown
- Classification
- Seals
- Formatted Medium
- possibly kaolinite
- Dimensions
- Overall: 2.5 x 2.5 cm (1 x 1 in.)
- Departments
- Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Accession Number
- 1964.104
- Credit Line
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Exhibitions
- Year in Review (1964)
- Rights Statement
- CC0
- Museum Location
- 242A Ancient India
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