Featured Wanted to share one of my collections - Indus Valley Artifact

Hello folks, Just wanted to share one of my precious collections - A fine pottery of Indus Valley Artifact - which existed between 3300-1300 BCE (Bronze Age civilisation), also known as the Harappan Civilization, extended from modern-day northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India. it was one of three early civilisations of the Near East and South Asia. Hope you like it!

 

We'd like it even better full size.



Can you tell us any more about it?

 

Welcome, andy. It is lovely.
Not to put a damper on things, but has it been authenticated? I have never seen a Harappa terracotta that is so dirty looking.

I have one of those small Harappa style zebu bulls, but have no idea if it is actually old. It has a musty smell, which is good, but since there are so many repros/fakes around I regard it as a repro. I love it nonetheless.

 

Sure Bronwen. This is the terracotta Figurine of a Fertility Goddess, though it's not complete (which was already broken from the lower region when I bought it), I acquired this beautiful piece of history from an reputed auction house in 2006. Probably one of my favourite possessions. This terracotta figurine represents a female divinity is identified as the Mother Goddess. Obviously, there are plenty of materials available in the internet but I would try to at least provide some basic details here.

These figurines were rediscovered in 1920-21 in the Punjab province of Pakistan at a site called Harappa, a name that is often used to describe the civilization as a whole. Subsequent excavations at Harappa revealed the size and complexity of this ancient city. Other sites were unearthed as well along the banks of the Indus River, including the equally large city of Mohenjodaro. Through archaeological and historical research, we can now say for certain that a highly developed urban civilization flourished in the Indian subcontinent over five thousand years ago. Though the Indus Valley script remains deciphered, the numerous seals, statuary, and pottery discovered during excavations. The recovery of a large number of Mother Goddess figurines almost from every excavated site suggests that the Mother Goddess worship cult was very wide-spread during Indus days.

Oh I forget, The one I possess in my collection seem to have been wearing heavy jewelry, suggesting that the Indus Valley people were an urbane people with cultivated tastes and a refined aesthetic sensibility. Hope this helps!

 

Hi Any Jewelry, Well very true and I completely agree that It's hard to distinguish between true antique and a repro. Well, the first thing is normally I buy from my known contacts (antique dealers) mainly whom I trust, secondly If I buy from online sites like ebay, I check the seller reviews, cause I understand they don't want to spoil their reputation for few extra bulks. Once the trust is broken, it's gone for ever, right? Also with some years of buying experience and some little research on these items, my understanding is, repro will never have that patina, that particular appeal, that you can expect with an artifact which is this much old. You can generate fake patina on it but you can't bring that overall feel and warmth of a genuine one, never, ever! For example, in ebay I've seen Indus valley artifacts from China/Thailand/Malaysia where you can easily figure out that even after so many attempts they completely failed to bring that vive, that charm like an original! (please check pictures where first one being sold in ebay from Hong Kong and second one from a reputed seller from UK, you'll know what I'm talking about). That's my perspective and finally your luck factor... Thanks for bringing this up and a great topic for discussion!! Would like to know your comments as well.

#1.

#2.

 

I agree, even I, with my scant knowledge of Indus Valley terracottas, wouldn't recognize #1 as Indus Valley.

I must say, I tend not to trust ebay antiquities sellers. As for rating, how many buyers actually know ancient from repro? They leave a rating based on service, shipping cost and time, and the object they think they have. That thinking could be wishful, and after all, Indus Valley Civilization items are very attractive.

Here is a blacklist of online antiquities sellers, mostly ebay, but also some others:

http://www.seal-collector.de/fakes-on-ebay.html

A quote from the site below:
"There is very little on the legitimate market from the "true" Indus Valley Civilization"

http://www.collector-antiquities.com/general-information/indus-valley-civilization.html

 

Here is my little zebu bull. It has a tiny hole in its chest, just behind the front legs.
As I said, no idea if real or repro. So with no definite id, I regard it as the latter. Cute as a button though.

 

Really helpful !! Thanks!

 

WOW, @Any Jewelry, THAT'S some list!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Very well said, and what a delightful piece!

 

Without a legitimate documented trail of provenance, you can never be sure about an antiquity's origin. "Reputable" auction houses and antique dealers are no exception. At best, their opinions are educated guesses. Going by style alone is no guarantee. This is one of the factors that makes collecting archeological artifacts so problematic. You need a strong dose of skepticism when acquiring such items.

The other major problem, of course, is that the market for antiquities incentivizes the looting of archeological sites. This is particularly a problem in areas of political unrest. At least the glut of fakes seems to take some of the pressure off of the threatened sites.

 

And these are only the ones who sell 'ancient' seals. There is no area that has been faked more than antiquities.
Ebay is full of fakes, fake Edwardian and Art Deco jewellery from China, fake Roman glass from China, and the list goes on. And as @komokwa and @all_fakes know, fake Native American.

 

Lots of fake US silver dollars and US gold coins on EBay as well. EBay doesn't seem interested in stopping it, and even the US Government doesn't seem to care even though they are essentially counterfeit US money. All from China, of course.

 

Thanks a ton Pelelope!

 

Agree on this, specially the items from China/Hong kong etc. What about UK/US sellers? Also another aspect is there are items which can be mirrored easily for example: Neolithic arrow heads, which they claim to be recovered from Sahara desert and all of that. Most of them just doesn't seem to be true and also there are no ways to validate. But what about some Roman/Viking/Greek war relics/oil lamps/fibula/bronze statues/ear rings/Jesus cross pendants etc. I look at those pictures very carefully (even if I don't buy) and with my little knowledge I don't think it's easy to make a repro, but I also agree terracotta figurines are most vulnerable for being fake cause we the buyers mostly don't have the required tools/knowledge for their age detection but of course there are exceptions.

 

I come across fakes on seller's sites all over the world. And those are only the fakes I recognize.
The problem is that many of these sellers don't check the Chinese etc listings for antiquities on ebay. The Chinese have a different fakes wave every few months or so, it can be Indus terracottas now, Roman glass tear bottles in two months time, etc, etc. You can even see 20 or so listings for a similar item at a time. Bulgarian and Turkish fakers are much more consistent in what they offer for sale.
People buy those items and offer them for sale to a bricks and mortar shop in the UK, US, you name it, and that is how otherwise reputable shops end up selling them as the real deal.

Yes, we have even had those here as well.
On this forum you can find out a lot about fake antiquities:
http://ancientartifakes.net/smf/

An example from their fake ring database:


http://ancientartifakes.net/smf/index.php/topic,1227.0.html

Depressing, isn't it.

 

Yes absolutely

 

As far as “trusting reputable auction houses” and “once that trust is broken”...come on guys-that would mean that none of us should ever visit the Met, the Getty or any number of internationally acclaimed museums that have all owned, authenticated and displayed fakes until they were called out. Modern technology has made it possible to manufacture fakes that will pass all but the most complicated testing. We all need to be careful and I hope that my ancient pieces really are ancient! I think they are...

Meanwhile I love all the sculptures posted! Really love yours AJ!

 

I don't buy antiques on ebay for many reasons, but I know enough about American antiques to distinguish real knowledge from BS, and will note that of all the sellers of American antiques there, I have found only two sellers who consistently know what they are talking about and fairly represent the antiques they are selling.

The number of sellers on ebay who have no idea what they are talking about, in all fields, is stunning. We even see them on this board - read this thread where a seller starts by buying a piece they know nothing about "dirt cheap", then decides to list it on ebay as an authentic 500 BC antiquity when it is in fact from the late 19th century at best: https://www.antiquers.com/threads/middle-eastern-copper-dish-test-results.50953/. His defense is stunning and shows why you should never trust sellers on ebay: "If those who actually collect and have knowledge of ancient copper show no interest in the listing, then no harm no foul.. ". In other words, I will create a listing full of incorrect speculation and present it in an authoritative way as if I knew what I was talking about, and it is up to the buyer to see through my BS and not buy it. THAT is ebay. Never trust a seller - judge only by your own knowledge and what you can see in the possibly inadequate pictures.

 

Agree. Knowledge is always best. Study your field of interest as well as you possibly can.

Headache material.