1889.] 



on the Civilisation of Ancient India. 



189 



The most distinct and conspicuous remains of Indo-Hellenic art 

 in the interior of India are those which have been discovered at the 

 ancient city of Mathura, situated on the Jamuna about thirty-five miles 

 from Agra. 



A group in sandstone, found at or near Mathura, was described 

 and figured more than fifty years ago by James Prinsep as representing 

 Sileuus with his attendants, and a second corresponding, though not iden- 

 tical, group has since been discovered by Mr. Growse in the neighbour- 

 hood of the same city. 



The block first found is three feet broad, and three feet eight inches 

 high, hollowed on the top into a shallow basin, perfectly smooth, and 

 originally nearly circular, and is sculptured back and front with figures 

 in high relief. 



" In the front group tho principal figure is a stout, half-naked man, 

 resting on a low seat, with wig or vine-crowned brow, out-stretched 

 arms, which appear to be supported by the figures, male and female, 

 standing one on each side. The dress of the female is certainly not 

 Indian, and is almost as certainly Greek. * * * Prinsep agrees 

 with Staeey in considering the principal figure to bo Silenus : — ' Mis 

 portly carcass, drunken lassitude, and vino-wreathed forehead, stamp 

 the individual, while the drapery of his attendants pronounce them at 

 least to be foreign to India, whatever may be thought of Silenus' own 

 costume, which is certainly highly orthodox and Brahmanical. If tho 

 sculptor were a Greek, his taste had been somewhat tainted by the 

 Indian beau-ideal of female beauty. In other respects his proportions 

 and attitudes are good ; nay, superior to any specimen of pure Hindu 

 sculpture we possess ; and, considering the object of the group, to sup- 

 port a sacrificial vase (probably of the juice of the grape), it is excel- 

 lent.' "* 



Prinscp's account of tho purpose of the block described by him, and 

 his interpretation of the sculptures have both beeu disputed. 1 shall 

 not enter into the controversy on tho subject, which may bo read in tho 

 works cited in the note. Personally, I am of opinion, that tho drunken 

 man is an Indian adaptation of Silenus. 



A third work, much in the same style, and still more obviously 



* Cunningham, Archa-ol. Rep., Vol I, p. 243. Prinsep's original account will 

 bo found in Journal An. Sno. of Bengal, Vol. V, (1836), pp. 517, 507, PI. XXXI. 

 Tin- sculpture described by Prinsep and its subsequently discovered companions are 

 discussed by Mr. (irmvse, and Illustrated by good plates, in tho same Journal, Vol. 

 XLIT, Part I (1X75), p. 212, Pis. XII, XIII, and aro further comment c.l on by 

 the same writer in Molhuni, a District Memoir. Seo also Anderson's Catalogue, 

 Part 1, pp. 170— 170. 

 S 



