Collections: Asian Art

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Small Model of Bullock or Humped Ox

Culture: Harappa
Medium: Hand-modeled terracotta
Place Made: Chanhu Daro, Pakistan
Dates: ca. 2500 B.C.E.
Period: Indus Valley Civilization
Dimensions: 1 3/4 x 1 3/16 x 3 9/16 in. (4.5 x 3 x 9 cm) (show scale)

Collections:Asian Art
Museum Location: This item is on view in Asian Galleries, Arts of India, 2nd Floor
Accession Number: 37.97
Credit Line: A. Augustus Healy Fund
Rights Statement: Creative Commons-BY-NC
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Caption: Harappa. Small Model of Bullock or Humped Ox, ca. 2500 B.C.E. Hand-modeled terracotta, 1 3/4 x 1 3/16 x 3 9/16 in. (4.5 x 3 x 9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, A. Augustus Healy Fund, 37.97. Creative Commons-BY-NC
Image: group, 37.92_37.93_37.94_37.95_37.97_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don't yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

Catalogue Description: Small, summarily-modeled figure of a bullock or humped ox, one of a pair with 37.96, used to draw a toy chariot (37.92 and/or 37.98). Reddish pottery with an uneven surface. The horns are chipped. A hole pierces the animal's neck, to hold the wooden stick (modern) which yokes him to his mate. An almost identical animal from the same site is illustrated in the "Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts," Boston, Vol. XXXIV, October 1936, p. 87, figure 11. On page 88, it is stated "Toy vehicles of various shaped made of pottery, mounted on two or four wheels and drawn by a pair of humped oxen as in modern Sind, form an interesting feature of the collection in the Museum." In the account of the Chanhu Daro excavations in "The Illustrated London news" for November 14, 1936, p. 860, Dr. Emert Mackay says "...model casts of pottery in various shapes...together with the little humped oxen that drew them, are exceedingly common--much too many in number to have been only the toys of the children of the little town; they probably supplied the wants of other places, such as Mohenjo-daro, over a wide area."
Record Completeness: Good (76%)
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.

chariot [x]		model [x]
ox [x]		cow [x]
oxen [x]		clay [x]
bull [x]		pull [x]
farm [x]		team [x]
farming [x]		small model [x]
Indus Valley Civilization [x]		B.C.E. [x]
terracotta [x]		wheel [x]
cart [x]		axle [x]

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Tags by Posse members

RajArumugam (2)
- cart
- chariot
ioio (11)
- bull
- cow
- model
- team
- clay
- farm
- farming
- ox
- oxen
- pull
- terracotta
ninakuriloff (2)
- Indus Valley Civilization
- small model
jocelyn (3)
- B.C.E.
- cart
- terracotta
hynek (3)
- cart
- wheel
- axle

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