Cleveland Museum of Art

Seal with Unicorn and Inscription

Date

c. 2000 BCE

Medium

possibly kaolin

Culture

Pakistan, Indus Valley civilization

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Small stone seals, probably used to identify merchandise or property, are among the most numerous objects surviving from the protohistoric urban sites along the banks of the Indus River system. This example has a bovine creature with one horn and one ear showing in profile, his head held over an altar-like object. Animals are the most popular motifs in the visual culture of the Indus Valley Civilization, shown much more often than human figures or cityscapes.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.