Handmade in India

LEATHER CRAFT
Embossed leather craft is practiced at Surul village in
Shantiniketan. The craft was initiated to the cluster through Kala
Bhawan, the Department of Fine Arts section at Viswabharti
University. Rabindranath Tagore had invited batik artists from
Java, Indonesia, to introduce the technique in India. In its initial
phase it was restriced only to batik on
leather. Kala Kutir in Sriniketan still retains the original
tradition of batik. However, the craftsmen of the cluster
have diversified to embossing designs on leather and then
doing batik on it. The process of embossing entails
softening the leather, embossing the designs through dies,
and dyeing the product.
Production Clusters
Birbhum district:
Surul
Bolpur
Products
Bags
Lady`s purses
Wallets
Key rings
Jewellery boxes
Hand gloves
Accessories
Tools
Punches
Metal Blocks
Skiving tool
Dyes, Roller, Blower
Polishing Stone
1. An artisan hand
painting an
embossed
leather piece.
2. AN embossed
and painted
leather purse.
3. Leather purse
with embssing.
4. An old kantha
quilt from
Jessore
(Bangladesh)
with several
variations of the
kalka, mango
motifs,
embroidered in
the corners.
5. Detail of the
embossed
texture with the
kalka, mango
motif.
TERRACOTTA JEWELLERY
Terracotta is one of the most ancient manifestations of
human creativity. However, terracotta jewellery is one of
the most recent additions to the domain of terracotta
artifacts and to the fashion world. It finds a huge market
in Kolkata
among both the young and the old. Clay is shaped and formed by
hand using techniques of slabbing, pinching, coiling, die and
pressing and carving. The individual parts are fired and strung into
ornaments such as necklaces, earrings, and bangles.
Production Clusters
Birbhum district:
Shantiniketan, Bolpur
Products
Earrings
Necklace
Bangles
Tobacco pipes
Tools
Chhile - strips of
bamboo
1. A necklace made with clay beads and pendant. The clay
pendant has been shaped by hand, decorated with markings
and recessed texture, and fired.
2. Details of a necklace with terracotta and wooden beads.
3. Earrings