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THE ANTIQUITY OF AZAMGARH THROUGH ITS LEGACY OF BLACK POTTERY

BLACK POTTERY- AZAMGARH-25%

Black pottery is a much different handicraft from the regular pottery due to its dark coloured texture along with fine silver decorations. The history of this beautiful art is traced back to the Kutch region of Gujrat. Some artisans from that region moved to Nizamabad during the Mughal rule. The craft was developed with the use of locally available fine textured clay. This particular smooth black clay is available all over the district in plenty of amounts. Inspiration of the unique element that is the silver geometric and floral design is taken from the craft of Hyderabad where they use silver wire to design their pottery. This art is of extreme historical importance due to its resemblance with the art and craft of iron age.

Due to poor industrial establishment in Azamgarh, the main occupation of the people here is either agriculture or pottery. Around 200 families are involved in the development of this craft which is mainly used to attract tourism and is exported to other countries. The potters make tea-pots, sugar-bowls and other decorative articles like the earthen wares and statues of Gods and Goddesses are also made. These products are popular during major festivals and local fairs. Over ages the art has been forwarded as a legacy in families of Azamgarh.

You will find such fine work of pottery on The Villg. The products are premium quality and nurtured with hand of artisans. We aim to provide a International platform work such pieces of art. Help save these antique art and craft from Azamagrh.

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JUTE WALL HANGING – GHAZIPUR

An established image of the artwork by Ghazipur Artisans

Since the past few years, the artisans of Ghazipur have engaged in various crafts work amongst which the most famous is Jute Wall Hangings. These are mainly for house decorative purposes and are designed with utmost keenness. The design relates a lot to regular lives. These include scenes from farms, sunset, sunrise, women going to fetch water, boats in the river, etc. The designs also have animals carefully woven in a unique and bright pattern.

Beautiful *SCENERY* on Jute Wall -Hanging

These wall hangings are magnificent products for home decorations, offices, restaurants, hotels, etc. and are widely used all over India to give a classy look to the walls. Due to poor industrial development, most of the families are involved in agriculture and wall hanging crafts. Other jute crafts are also developed in Ghazipur district.

Jute is a 100% natural and biodegradable fibre that makes these handicrafts eco-friendly and green. The cost of jute is comparatively less to various farm products used for craft purposes thus allowing the sale of these wall hangings at a reasonable price, which also makes it high in demand.

ROPE CAN CHANGE APPEARANCE – MARCUM

Whatever be the product, say expensive in the international market, the producer always receives the least credit either spoken or financial. No matter how much effort the producer may put in the resultant craft earns least profit to the artisan.

In the case of these polyester rope products the condition is the same. The use is wide ranged yet the nylon ropes enhance greater competition to these synthetic rope products. The crafters earn less profits over these polyester ropes as compared to nylon and thus many are shifting their businesses to making the nylon ropes.

These products also have superior pulling strength as opposed to natural fibre rope, they are electrically, non-conductive, they also are inherently safer than wire rope with a breakage due to lighter weight, these products are safer, more cost-efficient alternatives to wire rope for many applications.

Polyester ropes use recycled plastic as its ingredient and thus helps to save the environment too. We can help these artisans and nature equally by using these polyester rope products which possess equal strength as the nylon ropes.

POLYESTER ROPE PRODUCTS (MARCUM)– GORAKHPUR

Apart from producing the world-famous terracotta products, Gorakhpur also supplies Marcum, the polyester rope products. Polyester rope is better and stronger than jute ropes. Its exclusive features include low stretch & resistance to chemicals, UV & abrasion. There are various styles of construction depending upon the strength requirements of the product. Some materials for the products include cotton, hemp, manila, nylon, polyester, and even recycled plastics. These materials can be woven together in braided options. These are dyed in various colours thus providing a wide range of options.

The craft factory is quite a famous occupation of Gorakhpur, the area lacks industrial and farming lands due to being an earthquake prone area. Thus, many BPL families survive by producing These craft products, Rope products can include decorative crafts like buckets, baskets, wall hangings etc. The rope products also have various other applications including safety lanyards, mooring lines & tie-downs. Polyester cord can be used as a starter cord, guy line rope, tow rope, rigging rope & safety rope, also for rock climbing, arborists, safety and rescue operations, sailing etc.

THE ERODING TRADITION OF TERRACOTTA

World in demand of crude life style – Terracotta

History of Terracotta products goes way back in time and in different empires including the romans. The products are low maintenance and cost efficient. The vulnerability of this product lies in the accessibility of its raw material, the special type of clay available only in May-June out of the entire year when the lakes are filled with water during rains. The artisans gather clay from there and design the product with utmost care and equal difficulty.

After putting so much hard work the artisans earn mere finances for their art work.

Exclusive availability of the raw material makes it a seasonal activity which earns lesser money for the crafters and thus leaving them vulnerable for the rest of the year. Due to poor land quality farming is difficult in these areas and Gorakhpur is also prone to earthquakes which makes it not a very suitable place for industries thus people only depend upon the art and craft for their livelihoods.

The artisans don’t earn a lot of money and hence have been moving to the cities, abandoning the art, and leaving the tradition behind in search of jobs that are more financially promising.

THE UNDERATED CRAFT OF JUTE

Creativity untouched of Jute Wall hanging – Jute wall Hanging

As beautiful this craft looks, it is mostly overlooked in the modern times. Jute wall hangings are one of the most underrated crafts of our country. Due to availability of glass and other paintings which require less maintenance the jute wall hangings are ignored mostly.

Jute might be cheaper from the other agriculture-based products but becomes costly when compared to the other industrial material used for making similar paintings. It is a time-consuming process and it takes an artisan’s days only to make jute usable for the purpose of craft. The finest quality of jute is used for making cloth and the leftover is used for developing these beautiful scenic crafts.

The paintings due to being ignored by the competition of cheaper available products posses a threat over the wages of artisans creating them. Also due to their classic vintage look they do not fit with the modern décor and hence it becomes difficult to sell them in the markets.

CERAMIC- DELICATE BUT BEAUTIFUL

Unapproachable beauty of ceramic products by Middle class – Ceramic Products

Ceramic products are indeed appealing but are extremely fragile. They are delicate beauties. Due to their extreme delicacies they come out as costly crafts in the markets, out of the reach of middle-class people. The production of ceramic utensils and products is an immensely tough job. It takes hours near the furnaces just to bring the right shape to the product. In the light of that the artisans developing these products are extremely indigent they work in dark cells often losing their eyesight in the process. The art of ceramic products is ancient but due to easy and cheaper availability of plastic products, it has become endangered over time.

The plastic products are industry manufactured and cheaper as compared to ceramics and thus creates a threat to the major market of the ceramic products.

The story of a middle man is no different. The traders and small shopkeepers buy these products at cheaper prices from the artisans stating the fact that the products have difficult sustainability in the market and poor artisans are forced to sell their crafts at lower prices causing a threat to their financial status in the society.

HANDMADE BANARASI OVER FACTORY MADE

Left over pieces made in crafty items – Banarsi Fabric

As appealing as this craft sounds, it holds the setback of major competition from the foreign brands. Banarsi fabric is handmade with the use of natural chemical free dyes which makes it expensive and time consuming. The artisans take days to create a single piece of fabric after dyeing and designing it. But the difficulty occurs when the product is bought in a market where many similar factory-made products are present at much cheaper rates. The weavers suffer loss at business due to these ready-made products. The fabric produced is extremely beautiful and unique which is why only people of high living standards can afford it.

The artisans are forced to sell their fabric at cheaper prices so as to earn for their livelihoods. The need of survival makes them undergo major bargains from traders. The sell price of product is less as compared to the price of raw materials used to produce it and thus takes the artisans in major loss.

They have the least idea about the demand of handmade products and are caught up amongst the trading cycles and thus go in a loss. Survival for them is important and thus to save themselves they shift to cheaper businesses leaving their traditional arts some willingly, mostly forcefully.

BLACK POTTERY- A DYING ART

Black pottery – Deemed ancestral art and craft of Indian Inheritance

Black pottery of Azamgarh has a unique representation and ornamentation in its development. The fine silver work by the artisans sets it aside from black clay pottery of various other countries. The silver patterns devised on the pottery are inspired from the Mughal arts.

This ancestral art consists of the legacy of many families over ages and thus is a treasure, not only for the artisans but also for the people of India.

Unfortunately, the conditions of these artists are not equally prideful. Due to the increasing cost of raw materials many artisans are forced to withdraw from their family business of constructing and designing the black pottery crafts. Thus, they have to leave their ancestral business which forces them to shift into other local businesses. Many artisans who remain loyal to their craft live in utmost dreaded conditions due to lack of money and resources. No matter how high the demand for their craft is in the international market, they earn a bit of money for their art due to the presence of middle men who take away major parts of the profit.

If the condition continues there is no time when these artisans will be forced to leave their beloved profession for the sake of their families. And the unique art of black pottery will disappear forever.

Unique addition in Artwork-The Terracotta Art

TERRACOTTA – GORAKHPUR

Terracotta is a unique and special kind of ceramic craft. It includes sculptures made in earthenware, vessels, flower pots, bricks, roof tiles, construction surfaces, vases, statues of gods and goddesses etc.

Terracotta is the baked form of clay “Kabis”. This clay is locally available in the swamps available all over the Gorakhpur city. The natural red colour of terracotta is the result of Kabis clay being used to make the art. Because of its beauty and various available shapes, the terracotta craft of Gorakhpur is different from that of other areas. The major source of income for people from Gorakhpur specially from Aurangabad area of the district includes production of these terracotta products. The benefits of this product include that the red colour of terracotta does not fade for years, no use of harmful dyes and chemicals is there.

Terracotta products from Gorakhpur are one of the finest products over the country, the attraction elegance and uniqueness lies in the natural red colour due to the raw materials used. The terracotta products are used predominantly for decorative purposes, they depict a raw and natural culture which is the basic root of India.

JUTE WALL HANGING – GHAZIPUR

An established image of the artwork by Ghazipur Artisans

Since the past few years the artisans of Ghazipur have engaged in various crafts work amongst which the most famous is Jute Wall Hangings. These are mainly for house decorative purposes and are designed with utmost keenness. The design relates a lot with regular lives. These include scenes from farms, sunset, sunrise, women going to fetch water, boats in the river, etc. The designs also have animals carefully woven in a unique and bright pattern.

Jute is a 100% natural and biodegradable fibre which makes these handicrafts eco-friendly and green. The cost of jute is comparatively less to various farm products used for craft purpose thus allowing the sale of these wall hangings at a reasonable price, which also makes it high in demand.

The City known for its Ceramic art- Khurja

CERAMIC PRODUCTS – KHURJA (BULANDSHEHAR), HAPUR

Khurja supplies a major portion of the ceramics used in the country, hence it is sometimes called The City of Ceramics. The city lacks agricultural land and industrial development is strenuous due to power shortage hence people here mainly rely on the production of ceramic products.

The antiquity of Khurja pottery of ceramic products goes back to around the 14th century when some soldiers from Timur‘s army decided to stay back after the war. A number of these soldiers were potters and they brought the craft of ceramics with them.

During World War II, when ban was imposed on various metals for constructing household utensils the import of ceramic goods decreased drastically. To meet the demand of ceramic wares for hospitals, the Government of Uttar Pradesh established a unit for ceramic production in Khurja. After the war, instead of shutting down the factory completely the Government converted it into a Pottery Development Centre.

The pottery of ceramic products mainly includes earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. Nowadays, ceramic tiles are also being produced and sold at a large scale.