From booming Jaipuri prints to authentic leather jootis, Kathputlis, and stone carving to glittering lac bangles, Jaipur has always been a hub for handicrafts and traditional arts.
Having travelled through the generations of royal art and culture is one of the most prolific arts of our Jaipur city, the art that encapsulates the spirit of painting, carving and moulding altogether; Blue Pottery. Embellished in floral motifs and beautiful hand-drawn designs with natural colours and substances, Blue Pottery is one of a kind traditional art of Jaipur.
We have all heard about it, seen it, bought it and used at home for décor as well as for culinary purposes, but it is a rarely known fact that the amazing art of Blue Pottery is a handicraft and all the items are totally handmade.
Emerging from Persian Chinese roots, Blue Pottery was introduced in India by Maharaja Mansingh I and was carried on by his ascendants. This unique art of making colourful earthen wares is exclusive to our city Jaipur but is losing its identity day by day. Jaipur Beat took an initiative to talk about and try to revive such lost arts of our beloved city Jaipur.
Team Jaipur Beat visited the Blue Pottery Art Centre of Jaipur and tried to look deeper into the making of blue pottery items.
The raw material used to make blue pottery items includes quartz, glass, rock salt, and natural gum from trees. The first three ingredients are finely churned in a traditional manual ‘chakki’ to ensure that the powder is grinded finely. Then the gum is added to the powder to make a paste that is put into different moulds. The paste is then left to set in the moulds for some time and a white coating is done on the items. Later they are run through the furnace where the chances of breakage are 60%!
And now this is where the real magic happens! The brown colour on the earthenware turns to sky blue with the rising temperature and further to a darker shade of blue and we finally get the traditional blue pottery items.
Blue pottery is not just limited to the making of pots and dishes, but it’s almost like you name it and it’s possible. From chandeliers to bathroom tiles and soap dispensers, showpieces of all kinds to bottles and corks, lamps and lucky charms, everything is available in breathtaking designs in blue pottery with different flowers, animals and other designs hand-painted on them.
So in this festive season, you know what to do about re-decorating your home.
Where to find blue pottery in Jaipur?
Here- Blue Pottery Art Centre, Amer Road, Jaipur, 302002
Jaipur Beat 