Jaipur Blue Pottery; Flowers from Desert Sands

Endless miles of pale, hot sands, no leaf or bloom in sight, no spring blossoms nor autumnal fall, yet the soul of the desert people of Rajasthan, in Northern Indian, renders forth in splendidly simple and lyrical form, in uniquely flattering contrasts of colour, an expression of art and craft, in an innovative and uniquely Indian technique, that is revealed to us in the famous Jaipur Blue Pottery.

I recall being astonished to hear that there’s no clay as is used by potters but a sort of dough that is prepared by combining quartz stone powder from local quarries surrounding Jaipur, Multani Mitti, also known as, Fuller’s Earth, Gum, Borax and of course,a huge splash of water. Once done, the pottery piece is finished-off with a transparent glass glaze. The blue glaze technique was, its widely known, originally developed by Mongol artisans who brought these to India after the Turkish conquests. Rajasthani artisans have over the hundreds of years and generations past, developed this technique, imbued it with the elegance of style and splendour of craft that is uniquely their own. Matchless.

Enjoy this curated pieces and share in this human pursuit for excellence. What else is worth anything in life one might ask?

Photos Courtesy CraftsBazaar.