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Title: Volume 06 - Issue 2
Date: 1953
Table of contents:
    p. 2-5: Jayakar, Pupul, The Role of Cottage Industries [Editorial] | There are problems of organization and production in cottage industry development. There has been a decline in the usual channels through which craft traditions found an outlet: the village, religious, and court traditions. The need all round is for better organization, production, standardization of goods, improved designs, and adequate sales agencies. In the present situation of inadequate craft teachers, it is important to expose the craftsman, through mobile museum units, and regional museums to the finest samples of craftsmanship.
    p. 6-21: Lancaster, Clay, Indian Influence on the American Architecture of the XIX Century | American buildings of the 19th century are illustrated and described to show the awareness of Indian architectural elements, such as columned verandahs and bulbous domes. In imitating European trends, Americans encountered pseudo-Oriental styles. The cue was taken from Brighton Palace, England, 1838. The Eastern style was also publicized by the architect-writer Samuel Sloan of Philadelphia in his "The Model Architect" and designs of villas and oriental kiosks. Pseudo-Oriental architecture is also evident in public gardens such as Brooklyn Park (New York). Two groups of related American buildings of the late 19th century, supposedly Near-Eastern in origin, were the synagogues and hotels along the southern Atlantic coast. Other indications of influence are the adaptation of Indian carved wood-work in America, and the absorption of the word "Bungalow". Indian influence, however, was spasmodic, limited in patronage, and confused with other developments of Eastern architecture.
    p. 22-35: Coomaraswamy, Ananda, Archaic Indian Terracottas | The characteristic features -- as evident in 50 specimens, mostly from Mathura and in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts – are studied under three chronological groups: Indus Valley and Peshawar related types (Group I); Later Pre-Mauryan (Group II); and Sunga period (Group III). The Indus Valley terracottas (3rd-2nd millennium BCE) have peculiar physical features and ornaments, and exhibit Mesopotamian, Sumerian, and Indian influences. The marked Indian character of the Peshawar and related specimens, including the Indian ornament Channavira, credit an Indian provenance. Assigned to the 2nd millennium BC, they are technically and stylistically related with European neolithic, ancient Mesopotamian, other Indus Valley, and later but still pre-Mauryan Indian types. Group II specimens, all from Mathura and in the Boston museum, are tentatively dated to 1000-300 BCE. T. Bloch's identification of a female type of the group -- which occurs in other pre-Mauryan sites such as Laurya Nandangarh – with Goddess Prithvi is rejected. There are two facial types in the group: round and oval. The former is not far-removed from Mauryan and early Sunga reliefs. A series of terracottas excavated at Pataliputra is connected with the group. In the Sunga period (c. 175-73 BCE), there is a change in the general features: completely moulded plaques replace modelled figuring. The characteristic type is a fully clothed female deity (tentatively identified as Sri, precursor of Lakshmi), while a nude fertility goddess may either be Aditi or Vasini ("ruling goddess"). Terracotta art pre-dates stone figures by at least two or three millennia. The figure was initially modelled, then only the face was moulded, and finally came the completely moulded relief plaquetreatment was progressively flattened.
    p. 36-38: Gray, Basil, Intermingling of Mogul and Rajput Art | Hindu-Mughal contact in the arts was established through the influence of Akbar's court, Hindu religious (Vaishnavite) revival, and the Rajput rajas who occupied a special position in the Mughal court. The genius at work is the same in both Mughal and Rajput schools showing birds and animals. However, the distinction between them is that while the Mughal school turned outwards (without forgetting the inner vision), the Rajput paintings turned inwards, but remained aware of the natural world. The qualitative change inpainting from the time of Akbar's vision of a unified Indian culture is visible in a comparison between 16th-century Hindu painting and the almost purely Persian work with a developed sense of colour harmony. Akbar's reception of Jesuit missions between 1580 and 1605 resulted in a familiarity with European art.
    p. 39-44: Goetz, Hermann, Masterpieces of Mogul Painting: The Album of Emperor Jehangir | The label "Indo-Persian" for Mughal art is inappropriate, as classic Mughal art contains only a modest Persian element, and in its golden age is a reflection of the spirit and ideals of the cosmopolitan Mughal court, where religion, clan, and marital connections (and not nationality) were accorded importance. This syncretic art reached its zenith in Jehangir's time, as evident in his picture album discovered by the writer at the Prussian State Library in 1923. This album, unique in classic Mughal art, contains various miniatures, calligraphies, European etchings, a coherent set of portraits of political personalities Jahangir met between 1606 and 1618, and self portraits of Akbar's and Jahangir's painters. Most albums have miniatures pasted on thick cardboard with the margins painted in many colours and gold.
    p. 45-49: Uday Shankar: Some Action Drawings by Eilean Pearcey | The drawings are preceded by a resumé of Uday Shankar's contribution to Indian dance, including the dynamic social awareness he has brought to the art in the light of modern European choreography.
    p. 50-51: Fingesten, Peter, Tibetan Religious Art | Antoinette K. Gordon, the foremost American specialist on Tibetan iconography has had an interesting correspondence with the Dalai Lama. She published two books on Tibet: Iconography of Tibetan Lamaism and Tibetan Religious Art. The article carries a summary of the translated reply of the Dalai Lama on receiving her first book, and reproduces an illustration of Vajradhara and Shakti from the latter work.
    p. 52-63: von Leyden, R., Khanna, Krishen, Chitra, Studies in Development of K. H. Ara, M. F. Husain and J. Sabavala | Write-ups of these contemporary artists with examples of their works.
    p. 64-67: S.V.V., Design in Traditional Jewellery: II. Bengal | Evidence of the art is found in the temples of Bengal and nearby shrines of Orissa, and one of the antique ornaments found on the sculptures is "Chandra hara" (garland of moons). The kinkini or leg-chain was common to women and young boys. The intricate design and filigree work were mainly executed by Dhaka gold and silver smiths. The study of the traditional jewellery of Bengal is important if it is to be either preserved as a cottage industry, or if its best designs incorporated into modern workmanship.
    p. 68-72: Some Hair Styles of Ancient India | Some of the sketches depict the styles adapted from Ajanta, Mathura, Amaravati, and other traditional styles.

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