Despite the fact that this alloy is very brittle and hard to work, the bowls were turned on a lathe to a precise thinness, and decorated with incised patterns and decorative scenes including elegant women and what look like structures and plants (Bennet and Glover 1992). Initially the origin of these bronzes presented a dilemma, but Ian Glover's knowledge of Indian material culture through his extensive travels there led to the identification of similar bronzes at Taxila and Adichanallur(Glover 1998), which makes an Indian source most likely