Three terracotta figures of mother goddesses

From Mohenjo-Daro, modern Pakistan, 3rd-2nd millennium BC

'Timeless'

There are two broad traditions of sculptural representation in Indian terracotta art. There are those which exhibit stylistic and iconographic variations according to their time and place of manufacture, and others, called the 'timeless' types, which are simply modelled, and less conditioned by stylistic and iconographic developments. Little or no variation is visible over thousands of years, and almost identical cult images are made to the present day. They remain a vibrant parallel tradition through the history of Indian art. Crudely modelled, with appliqué pellets bringing out their eyes and other features, we have no secure way of dating them, other than thermoluminescence testing, which establishes a broad date range.

The feminine characterstics of these images are almost always emphasized and pronounced, highlighting what is clearly a long continuity from the earliest times in the importance of femal fertility.