A hand-book of Indian products : art manufactures and raw materials / [T. N. Mukharji].

  • Mukharji, T. N.
Date:
1883
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A hand-book of Indian products : art manufactures and raw materials / [T. N. Mukharji]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    34/198 (page 22)
    Rajputana about two hundred miles distant. The marble inside the building is beautifully inlaid with stones of different colours, even with carbuncles and other precious stones. This art has now been extended to the making of plates, boxes, inkstands, &.c. Stones of less value' and mother of pearl are now used in the inlaying work, and the style of decoration generally floral, wdth au occasional figure of a bird &c., is the same as that of the Taj. Considerable skill and great patience are displayed in this inlaying work, and the materials used being also valuable, the prices of the Agra mosaic work are high. A table, passion flower inlaid work, sells at Rs. 600; a box Taj pattern Rs. 125 ; an inkstand Rs. 200] a box Rs. 25 to Rs. 150 ; a plate Rs. 10 to Rs. 100. Small trinkets of soap-stone are also largely made at Agra, and owing to their cheap price have a considerable sale. A paper weight sells at Re. 1 ; a small box at Rs. 2, &c. At Banda, a town on the South of the Jamna, small trinkets such as knive handles, buttons, paper-knives, paper weights, &c. are made of fragments of granite washed down by the river Ken. These articles are very cheap, a dozen knive han- dles being sold at Rs. 7, and six pairs of collar buttons at Rs. 3. Of manufactures in w'ood, the most noted are the ebony work of Nagina, a town in the Bijnor District in Rohilkhand, the articles made of walnut and other woods at Agra, the white wood work of Saharanpur and the Tarkashi work of Mainpuri. The Nagina ebony manufactures have acquired a great reputation. The wmod used is that of Diospyros melanoxylon, known in vernacular as the hend, a tree found in the Cbhota- nagpur aud the Baghelkhand forests. The ornamented portion is carved out, the patterns being chiefly geometrical figures. The prices are for a tray Rs. 15 ; a blotting book Rs. 10 ; an envelope case Rs. 10; a book-stand Rs. 5 &c. The Agra wood work is not of great importance, walnut s seldom used, some inferior wood being coloured and passed off as