Pottery was an important industry in Harappan Civilization and the importance of the pottery can be noted from the fact that Harappan pictographic scripts were found mainly on potteries. Indus Valley Civilization Pottery, remained simple most of the time and thus allowed us to understand the gradual development of different design patterns as they were used in various types and styles. Indus Valley Civilization consists mainly of wheel-made goods both plain and painted though plain pottery is more common than painted ware.

Characteristics of Indus Valley Civilisation Pottery:

• Indus valley pottery consists of very fine wheel-made wares.
• The painted decorations consist of horizontal lines of different thicknesses, sizes, chequers, patterns of leaves, palm trees.
• Furthermore, it also included birds, fish, and wildlife.
• Very few potteries were handmade.
• Plain pottery is more commonly seen than painted ware.
• Plain pottery is generally red clay, with or without a fine red or grey slip.
• Pedestal, pots, goblets, cylindrical vessels perforated all over, and different kinds of bowls are among the notable types found in the Harappan pottery.
• The black painted ware has a fine coating of red slip on which geometric and animal designs are executed in glossy black paint.
• Pottery made on potter’s wheel and burnt in kilns, has produced stamp marks that may suggest that certain types of vessels have also been traded.

Painted Earthen Jar

• It was found at Mohenjo-Daro.
• Built using clay on a potters’ wheel.
• The shape has been distorted by the strength of the potter’s crafty fingers.
• It was painted with black colour, after baking a clay pattern.
• Strong polishing as finishing touch was achieved.
• Motifs are elements of both vegetation and geometry.
• Easy designs.

Different types of Pottery in Harappan civilisation:

• Harappan people used different forms of pottery such as glazed (earliest example of their kind in the ancient world), incised, polychrome, perforated, and knobbed.
• Perforated pottery has also been used to strain liquor, as it has small holes in the wall and a large hole at the bottom.
• Polychrome pottery (created when 3 or more mineral colors are used to decorate a hand-built ceramic) was uncommon and consisted mostly small vases decorated with geometric patterns primarily in red, black and green and less often in white and yellow at the same time incised ware is also uncommon and the incised decoration was limited to the bases of the plates.
• A unique feature of Knobbed pottery is the décor on the exterior of knobs.
• The Harappan pottery consists of goblets, basins, flasks, bowls, cylindrical jars, tumblers (flat-bottomed), narrow-necked vases, spouted vases, maize measurements.