Blue Pottery Products, Blue Pottery Designs, Blue Pottery Handicrafts

Blue Pottery is a type of glazed stoneware pottery. This is not made of clay but mainly of silica mixed with glass powder, fuller's earth (multani mitti) and bicarbonate soda.  Blue Pottery, as a craft, originated in Persia and Turkey and were characterized by Islamic patterns. However, Blue Pottery has become an integral part of the arts, crafts,  and culture of Jaipur. It is said that Blue Pottery arrived in Jaipur in the early 1900s. In this span of more than 200 years, it has gone through major changes. According to legends, Mughals bought the technique of blue pottery while traveling via Kashmir. They trained the Kashmiri artisans and others all over north India, in fond remembrance of their homeland, Samarkand. Jaipur is the home of glazed blue pottery today. Blue pottery products are a shopper's delight.

Blue Pottery Products

Blue Pottery Products

• Flower pots 
• Vases
• Cups, plates, bowls
• Glazed tiles 
• Ashtrays
• Lamp shades
• Jars 
• Surahis (small pitcher)
• Trays
• Coasters
• Door knobs 
• Many decoration items

Process of making blue pottery products

Due to its low plasticity, blue pottery cannot be molded on the potter's wheel. The material has to be molded by hand, and given beautiful shapes. The product is molded in parts, and then joined. A clear white base is formed for painting.  After this, it is hand painted. Cobalt oxide is used to create outlines. Other metal oxides are used to fill in the color. Thereafter, the product is dipped in clear glaze and fired once in a wooden kiln. The glaze used is lead based due to its low firing temperature.

Characteristics of Blue Pottery Products

• Blue Pottery products are continuously smooth.
• They do not develop any cracks 
• Blue Pottery is resistant, hygienic, and suitable for daily use 
• Blue Pottery products are semi-transparent 
• They are fragile as they are being fired at very low temperature.   

Motifs and Designs

Blue Pottery products can be intricately and beautifully decorated with brush. Blue Pottery products are mostly decorated with animal, bird and floral motifs. The blue color or turquoise color is obtained from copper oxide and dark ultramarine colour is obtained from cobalt oxide. Available mostly in Japan and also in handicrafts stores based in India, blue pottery products are wonderful gift items as well home decor and utility items.

Blue Pottery Utensils

Blue Pottery Vase

Blue Pottery Bowl

Blue Pottery Handicrafts

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Pochampally sarees, Pochampalli Sari Designs and Colours, Demand for Pochampally Saree

Pochampally sarees are the famous sarees  of the state of Andhra Pradesh. Woven in Pochampally, a small town in the state and hence the name. Among the South Indian Sarees, this is one of the well known sarees because of its high quality fabric, beautiful ikat designs and durability and because of its unique colour combination. Pocahmpalli Sareees are woven in hand woven cotton and silk fabric and silk-cotton mixes. Pochampally ikats can be differentiated from their Orissa (ikat saree) by their look and feel. Pochampally fabric is smoother than the fabric used in Orissa's ikat and not quite as heavy. 

Pochampalli saree

Pochampalli Sarees Weaving Process

There are about 5000 handloom weavers in Pochampally who create saris in traditional ikat work. The unique weaving pattern is that the ikat weaves involve the yarn being dyed first, with each strand dyed in terms of the final pattern that has been chosen. This means that everything has to be very precise and requires the skills of true artists. This method is very similar to the tie-and-dye method but here the yarn is dyed before weaving which makes the weaving procedure complex.

Pochampalli Sari Designs and Colours

Nowadays, the weavers use modern synthetic colorful threads instead of the expensive vegetable dyes for dying. This has reduced the cost of production of these sarees. The pochampally ikat-weavers were influenced by the patola designs of Gujarat. Modern ikats of Andhra Pradesh, are simple and elegant  and use purely geometrical designs and at the most three colors. The saree has Ikat bands in the endpiece. The patterns of these sarees have undergone changes in modern times, with big, bold and bright patterns. Modern motifs with plenty of brilliant colours give a modern touch to these saris. The most modern Pochampalli Ikat designs are vibrantly coloured. 

Demand for Pochampally Saree

The famous Pochampally saree has won Intellectual Property Rights protection. It is the first traditional Indian craft to receive this status of geographical branding. This will protect the pochampally saree from unfair competition and counterfeit. The Pochampally Indian sarees have a good market in India as well as abroad. The weavers are using modern synthetic colours and creating attractive designs that are typical of the saree tradition.

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Paithani Sarees, Maharashtrian Paithani Saris, Handwoven Paithani Sarees

The famous traditional silk sarees of Maharashtra are the Paithani sarees. A hand-woven sari having vibrant colours and intricate designs, a paithani saree is considered as a valuable possession in every Maharashtrian family. Paithani saree is named after the Paithan town in Aurangabad Maharashtra state where the saree is woven by hand. No Maharashtrian wedding ensemble is complete without the Paithani saree. Paithani Saris give a very elegant look with style and royalty. Teamed up with the appropriate accessories, these saris add enormous grace and beauty.

Paithani Saree of Maharashtra

Paithani Sarees' Fabric

The Paithani sarees are made of pure silk in rich, vivid colors and decorated with gold embroidery. In the modern Paithani sarees, silver threads coated with gold are used instead of pure gold threads. It takes time to create a paithani saree, ranging from a month to years and hence the saree is expensive. Even in today's advanced world, the methods of weaving Paithani have not changed at all and this saree can cost anywhere between R. 6000 to Rs. 500, 000. The saree is also considered holy in Indian tradition. The paithani saree is indeed a legacy of art and is the glory of Maharashtra.

Paithani Sarees: Designs and Motifs

Paithani saris are reputed for their distinctive intricate weaving in pure silk and gold. The paithani sari has played a meaningful role in weaving together the cultural fabric of Maharashtra.  The specialty of the paithani is its border and pallav. The Paithani silk saris are one of the richest gold brocade saris with stunning gold patterns woven in them. Known the world over for its uniqueness. It is one of the most beautiful saris in the world. It is beautifully crafted, with an exquisite zari border. Distinctive motifs are woven into the sari. The designs available in the border and pallus are like tara (star), kuyri (mango), mor (peacock), paisa (coin), pankha (fan), popat (parrot), kamal (lotus), rui phool (flower), chandrakor (moon), kalas pakli (petal), narli (coconut) and so on. In the pallu, the base is in gold giving the whole sari an embossed look. Paithani sarees are generally decorated with the gold dot or coin motif. 

Popular Colours of Paithani Sarees

The paithani sarees have a special dhoop-chaav (light and shade) effect which is created by bringing two different coloured silk threads. The sarees are available in plain as well as spotted designs. Among other varieties, single colored and kaleidoscope-colored designs in the Paithani sarees are also highly demanded. The kaleidoscopic effect is produced by using one color for weaving lengthwise and another for weaving widthwise. The shades vary from vivid magenta, peacock greens and purples. The dominant traditional colours of vegetable dyes included blue, red and green, black and white, black and red, pink, purplish red and yellow.

Buying tip: Classification of Paithani Saree

If you are interested in buying a paithani saree, consider the following classifications. 

• Classification by motif: Here the popular motifs are Bangadi Mor, Munia brocade and the lotus. The word "bangadi" means bangle and "mor" means peacock. Lotus motifs in 7-8 colours are used in pallu.
• Classification by weaving: There are two ways of weaving the saree. The Kadiyal border Saree in which the warp and the weft of the border are of the same colour while the body has different colours for warp and weft. The other weaving technique is the Kad/Ekdhoti, where a single shuttle is used for weaving of weft. The colour of the warp yarn is different from that of the weft yarn.
• Classification by colour 
• Raghu: Parrot green coloured Saree.
• Kalichandrakala: It is a pure black Saree with red border.
• Shirodak: It is a pure white Saree.

Paithani Saree Design Gallery

purple paithani sari with woven peacocks on anchal

Handwoven Paithani Saree in Black with Zari Pallu

Handwoven Paithani with Real Zardozi

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