Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

ART

Kashmir. Arms were also made at Monghyr. Swords of good temper were made at Pehani, in the Hardroi district of Oudh. Nagpur was noted for the manufacture of steel weapons, such as spears and daggers. In Tumkur arms and cutlery were produced for sale all over Mysore. The most striking objects in the Prince of Wales collection of Indian arms was a suit of armour made entirely of the horny scales of the Indian armadillo or pangolin encrusted with gold, turquoises and garnets. There was another splendid suit of Kashmir chain armour. The collection also includes the great sword of Mahmud Chand Sultan Shah of the date of 1707 and the sword of the famous polygar Kattabomman Naik who defeated the English in the early 19th C. Pottery Unglazed pottery has been made from before the time of Manu. The principal varieties of Indian fancy pottery made for export were the red earthernware pottery of Travancore and Hyderabad in the Deccan, the red glazed pottery of Dinapur, the black and silver pottery of Azimghar in North Western Provinces, and Surrujgurrah in Bengal (Bhagalpur), imitation Bidri of Patna and Surat in Gujarat, painted pottery of Kota in Rajputana, the glazed and unglazed pottery of Madura and the glazed pottery of Sindh and the Punjab. The Indian potter's wheel is of the simplest and crudest kind. It is a horizontal fly-wheel, two or three feet in diameter, loaded heavily with clay around the rim, and put in motion by the hand, and once set spinning, it revolves for five or seven minutes with a perfect steady and true motion. The clay to be moulded is heaped on the centre of the wheel and the potter squats down on the ground before it. A few powerful turns and the wheel spins silently, while the shapeless heap of clay begins to grow under the potter's hand into a perfect form; which is carried off to be dried and baked. Pol- ishing is done by rubbing the baked jars and pots with a pebble. There is a great demand for these clay pots, since the Hindus have a religious prejudice against using an earthen vessel twice. Sandalwood and other wood carvings Sandalwood carving was chiefly carried out at Surat, Ahme- dabad, Bombay, Canara, Karnataka and Travancore. The best Canara carving came from Kumta and the best of Mysore, identical with that of the Canara, was from the jtown of Sorab in Shimoga. One beautiful example was a little cabinet exhibited by Major Puckle in the Annual International Exhibition of 1871. It was surmounted by a triangular headboard on which were carved Brahma and Saraswati in the centre, and Shiva on Nandi on one side, and Shiva and Vishnu coalesced in Krishna on the other, the outline of this headpiece being waved in a manner to represent the mystic trilateral monosyllable AUM . On either side of it was an elephant waving a chauri in its trunk, and below it a narrow border on which were carved Lakshmi, Parvati, Garuda, Hanuman and other gods. On the right door of the cabinet Visnhu on Garuda, with Lakshmi by his side, was represented in the centre, surrounded by the forms of his ten avatars, and on the left door Shiva on Nandi, with Parvati by his side, was represented in the centre surrounded by the guardians of the eight quarters of the earth, Indra, Agni, Yama, Nirritu, Varuna, Vayu, Kubera and Isana.

Here the stalls sold brasswork, incense burners, lamps, and many other things concerned with ceremonial worship. In Bengal Kanska plates were a speciality of Burdwan and Midnapore. Several other places in Burdwan division were noted for their metal pots and pans. The brass work of Nagpur, consisting of lotas, kators, and cook- ing vessels were distinguished by their pure traditional forms. Brass and bell-metal vessels were manufactured at Sambalpur in Orissa. Nasik, Poona and Ahmedabad had always been famous for their copper and brasswork. Iron work was also done at Ahmedabad. There was a large manufacture of idols in all the metals at Nasik and Poona. gala. Magadi, Belur and Channapatna in Karnataka. Turmkur was noted for its brass and copper utensils and idols. Nellore was famous for its brass work. The finest brass work was done at Madurai and Tanjore. The temple bells of India were celebrated for the depth and purity of their note and those of Madras are distinguished by their stately architectural forms. Damascened work Damascening is the art of encrusting one metal on another in the form of wire, which by undercutting and hammering was completely incorporated with the metal which it was intended to ornament. It was limited to encrusting gold wire Brass and copper vessels were made at Madhugiri, Nagamn- In India it was carried on chiefly in Kashmir, Gujarat and in the Nizam's dominion. Damascening in silver was called bidri, from Bidar, in the Nizam's dominion, where it was principally produced. In bidri the metal ground is a compound of copper, lead and tin, made black on the surface by dipping it in a solution of sal - ammoniac, saltpetre, salt and blue vitriol. This alloy, after being first melted and cast, was turned in a lathe to complete the form, which was usually that of the ordinary sarai, or water goblet, or hukah stand. Bidri was also made in the Bhagalpur division of Bengal. Here only zinc was mixed with copper in the alloy. Arms : Indian steel has been celebrated from the earliest antiquity and the blades of Damascus, which maintained their pre-eminence even after the blades of Toledo became celebrated, were in fact of Indian steel. Twenty miles east of Nirmal and a few miles south of the Shisha hills, occurs the hornblende slate or schist from which the magnete iron used for ages in the manufacture of Damascus steel, and by the Persians for their sword blades, was obtained. The Dimdurti mines on the Godavari were also another source of Damascus steel. In the Punjab, superbly ornamented arms of the costliest de- scription, were made at Lahore, Sialkot, Gujarat, Shahpur and in and sometimes silver wire, on the sur- face of iron, or steel, or bronze. It takes its name from Damascus, where it was carried to the highest perfection by the early goldsmiths.