Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website.
  • csm-3000-scu-pottery-front-9_0

Harappan Miniature Pottery

Original Location: Harappa, Punjab, Pakistan

Present Location: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai

Period: 3200-1500 BC

Material: Terracotta

Objects: Pottery

Style: Harappan

Dimensions: 13 x 13.5 x 8.2 cms

Credits: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai, India.


In the Harappan culture, the art of pottery making was at it peak. The Indus potter was a skilled craftsman who produced plain, coloured and glazed pottery. Made in various shapes, the pottery had rich designs and a perfect finish. Along with fast wheel thrown pottery, mold-made and hand formed pottery continued to be produced. Harappan pottery was made of good quality clay, which was baked in controlled heat in various shapes like bowls, vases, pots (Handi), feeder, dish, storage jar, offering stand, dish-on-stand jars, drinking vessels, cup and cup on a stand, basin, casket and so on.


The discovery of miniature pottery has been explained culturally as either serving as playthings for children or for cult practices. The finish and the workmanship of a majority of these suggest that they were perhaps not made by children. The votive purpose of these pieces is as speculative, as the existence of a cult where these miniatures could have been used.


A large find of small and miniature pottery have been discovered in the Harappan civilization. The size of this kind of pottery is about an inch. It consists of jars and pots, some of which have been crudely executed, have asymmetrical lower bodies and bases. However, many of them are wheel made, with careful finish and painted with great care. In case of these miniature pottery, the body wall thickness is significant in relation to maximum body diameter. It was made of both clay and faience, the latter being a paste made of crushed steatite.