25 YEARS SPECIAL 2007-13 final_2nd time:Layout 1 10/01/14 11:29 AM Page 46
INDIA
PERSPECTIVES
Coloured motifs on functional products and artifacts
FEBRUARY
2007
Call of the Meenakar, by Sudhamahi Regunathan
W
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handcrafted piece of art takes a long time to make and so the pieces produced are few. The effort finds itself measured in the price line, for other than the price of metal, the cost of labour ranks quite high. The creative process begins with the artist sketching out the design on paper. He is called the chitrakar. Once all this is done, the hero of this craft, the meenakar, steps in. He fills in the colours—which are metallic oxides, ground and mixed with powdered glass. He begins with the colour that is most resistant to heat. Since the metal has to be reheated with the application of each colour, it is important that he begins with the more heat resistant ones. The colour is powdered very finely after it has been pulverised in an iron mortar. It is then turned into a paste and applied to the engravings. Exposed to glowing coals, each colour is applied one by one. Finally it is polished. The craft is picking up with greater gusto now and is looking towards newer motifs and newer surfaces to work on.
INDIA PICTURE
hen did man discover the power of ornamentation in metal? Perhaps it was the strong desire to look beautiful that led this successful quest or perhaps it was just as normal as man discovered fire and the wheel; it was a necessity! But, this has been the most enduring of romances so far! Forever target of insatiable desire, metals—be they gold, silver or platinum—have brought man his love and woman her dreams. Crafted into exquisite pieces of jewellery or artifacts, they have added the magical touch of immortality to life itself. The art of meenakari, as enamelling is called, is the preserve of some families, generally concentrated in Jaipur, Benaras and Hyderabad. The three schools follow the same technique but naturally different motifs to work on. The art of meenakari was greatly influenced by the Mughals whose passion for detail is well known. It is undoubtedly their contribution which honed the art so much that today an enamelled motif reflects a myriad colours, even within a two-inch diameter. Predictably this
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Motifs and colours
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GLORIOUS YEARS