The measure of a country's civilization is often done on the basis of its art. Pottery is often considered as one of the sensual of all arts. It has a deep religious connotation too. The figures/figurines of the deities in villages are usually executed in clay.
History
The ceramic traditions of India are usually traced with the Harappan Age. While the art of shaping and baking the clay has endured through the ages. Historical evidence suggests that potters occupied an important place in the society in the Indus Valley Civilization. The craft was advanced which is indicated with the presence of rectangular kilns, seals, grain and water containers.
Various Types of Pottery
There is a great diversity in pottery traditions of India. The shapes are natural and attractive with emphasizes on functionality. During the festive occasions like Dusshera, Diwali, toys, pots and diyas are produced.
Some pottery products are specifically used for decoration. These products have intricate designs called Karigari on it. The notable decorative pottery products are ashtrays, flower-vases, tea sets, paperweights, and decorative animal figures.
The art of making blue glaze pottery came to Rajasthan via Kashmir, the Mughal emperors’ favourite retreat and, more importantly, their entry point into India.¤ The Art of Blue Pottery
The use of blue glaze on pottery made from Multani mitti, or Fuller’s earth, is essentially an imported technique, first developed by enterprising Mongol artisans who combined Chinese glazing technology with Persian decorative arts. This technique travelled south to India with early Muslim potentates in the 14th century. During its infancy, it was strictly used to make tiles to decorate mosques, tombs and palaces in Central Asia.
¤ The Art Gradually Flourished In India
Later, the Mughals began using them in India, in a bid to mimic their beloved structures from beyond the mountains in Samarkand.
Gradually the blue glaze technique broke free of its status as an architectural accessory, and Kashmiri potters took to it with a vengeance.
From there, the technique rolled down to the plains of Delhi and in the 17th century wound its way to Jaipur. The rulers of Jaipur were exceptionally partial to blue-glazed ware, and many a cool marble hall in Rambagh Palace has as its centrepiece a bubbling fountain lined with ravishing blue tiles. These tiles were also used extensively in the building of the splendid city of Jaipur but surprisingly, they disappeared soon after.
¤ The Foremost Art of Tile Making
The revival of tile-making began in the late 19th century, and Jaipur became the centre of a thriving new industry producing blueware. The traditional Persian designs have now been adapted to please a more sophisticated clientele. Apart from the predictable urns, jars, pots and vases, you’ll now find tea sets, cups and saucers, plates and glasses, jugs, ashtrays and even napkin rings. You can spot blue pottery being made at Sanganer, not far from Jaipur, and also within the city at Kripal Kumbh, Shiva Marg.
The colour palette is restricted to blue derived from the oxide of cobalt, green from the oxide of copper and white, though other non-conventional colours such as yellow and brown have jumped into the fray too.
Delhi and Jaipur are famous for their blue pottery tradition. There is use of Persian blue dye that lends the attractive blue color. The pottery is also glazed and high fired, which makes it durable. Usually blue pottery is decorated with animal and bird motifs. This impervious pottery is usually used for decorative purposes. The range of items is primarily decorative such as ashtrays, vases, coasters, small bowls and boxes for trinkets.
JAIPUR BLUE POTTERY
Blue pottery though Turko-Persian in origin, is widely recognized as a traditional craft of Jaipur. Legend has it that blue pottery came to Jaipur in the early 19th century when one of its rulers, Sawai Ram Singh II (1835 – 1880) set up a school of Art and encouraged artists and craftsmen from all over the country to come and settle here – a tradition started by his fore-fathers. Blue pottery has seen several ups and downs in its lie span of almost 200 years. There was a time when it all but vanished from Jaipur but the efforts of several concerned people like Smt. Kamla Devi Chattopadhaya and Ramata Gaytri Devi helped to revive this dying art.
Today, blue pottery is a growing industry, an industry that provides livelihood to thousands of people.
The Process
Blue Pottery is based on ground quartz. The dough is pressed into moulds and the unfired pieces are hand painted with oxide colours, dipped in clear glaze and fired once in wooden kilns. The process is very tedious and time consuming. Once made, the blue pottery items cannot be reworked. It is a craft where one is never sure if the finished product will have the exact shade that one may have wanted. The smallest mistake could lead to the piece either cracking up or turning black.
This tedious process was one of the main reasons why very few people were willing to experiment and try out new products in blue pottery. Not only did it require time and patience but also money. Blue pottery survived as a decorative item – ideal for gifts and souvenirs. But its practical use was very limited.
The Jaipur mix usually contains no clay at all. It is made up of 100 kg (220lbs) of ground quartz, 10-20 kg (22-44 lbs) of green glass, ½ kg (I lb) of fuller’s earth ½ kg (I lb) of borax and 1 kg (2.2lbs) of gum. This is kneaded into a dough, flattened and pressed into an open mould. A vase, for example, will be made up in four parts; a wheel-turned neck; two moulded hemispheres; and a wheel-turned base. The hemispheres are filled with ash or sawdust while they dry, the parts are joined and the surface smoothed over, and the vase is then taken for painting. The outlines are drawn in cobalt oxide using a squirrel-tail brush (little ground squirrels are frequently run over, and the painters collect the tails, from which they make their own brushed). The design is filled in with other metal oxides, each of which is transformed into a bright colour by firing. The oxide of cobalt becomes a deep blue, that of chromium changes to green, cadmium produces a bright yellow and iron oxide becomes a red-brown. The piece is then dipped into a homemade glaze of glass, borax and lead oxide which is made adhesive by the addition of boiled flour. When enough dried pieces have built up they are fired at 800 - 850o C for six hours in a closed kiln fuelled with charcoal. All the melts, but 80 per cent of the quartz is left, and this maintains the form of the vessel. The kiln is left to cool for three days, avoiding any rapid temperature change which so easily cracks the china.
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