The revival of Meenakari art
Meenakari art, which is used
to designing metal is very popular in India. In fact, the Meenakari
show pieces and jewelery items are very common which gets designed by
the pouring of different colours, adding several stones etc.
Human
being has always been the admirer of beauty and creativity, since
time immemorial. This is one of his qualities which discriminate him
from animals. Due to this admiration, time to time, man has developed
several beautiful arts. You can see the samples of these arts in the
remains of ancient civilisations. India has always been accepted as a
land of art and craft, by the world. The samples of arts and crafts
can be seen in ancient and medieval Indian civilisations. These arts
and crafts include woodwork, textile designing, pottery, Meenakari
etc. These beautiful art works have always been a source of
attractions for the tourists. As a matter of fact, Meeanakari is one
of the arts which has created a great attraction among the art
lovers. This is the art of enamel work in which metals are decorated
and polished in different colours. It is a traditional art of various
regions of India such as Rajasthan. This beautiful art is believed to
be introduced by Mughals in the 16th century and Maharaja Man Singh I
of Ambar in the late 17th century.
The designs are enameled on
various things such as beautiful jewelery items made up of gold and
silver, wooden work etc. Furthermore, the Meenakari
show pieces are also used at a large amount at home for the
purpose of decoration. These decorative items may be brass bowls, a
showpiece in the shape of an animal or a bird and so on. The
traditional Meenakari designs have been revived by various firms and
individuals. These prints are used on different metals such as gold,
silver, brass, wood, etc. Decoration of jewelery items etc., are some
of the tasks for which these prints are being used.
A high
degree of skill is required for Meenakari designs. These prints are
made by skillful artists, known as 'meenakar'. The metal on which the
design has to be made is fixed on a lac stick. Then, beautiful prints
of different flowers, fish, birds etc., are made on the metal.
Several beautiful colours are then poured and every colour needs to
be throwed individually. Several types of designs are made on the
metal surface. Several styles have been developed based on different
regions. These styles are categorised as Varanasi design, Rajasthan
design and so on. These prints can also be seen on various boxes too.
Several contrast colours are beautifully designed on these boxes.
Prints of birds, flowers etc., are very often on these items.
Beautiful peacock design is very much in trend these days.
There
are various techniques developed in this. For instance, there is a
technique called Bandh mina khaka in which an illustration in
transparent colour is surrounded by an opaque enameled print.
Additionally, in the case of jewelery, metals like gems stones
etc., are also applied. In order, to satisfy various aspects, a
meenakar has to work with various other designers such as goldsmith,
engraver, designer for applying gems, etc. Rajasthan is the popular
for its royal Meenakari tradition. Udaypur, Jodhpur, Jaipur etc., are
some of the places where this work is mainly done. Almost every
region in Rajashtan adopt different techniques and styles. For
example, in Jaipur, the jewelers use the style named as
champleve.
These designs are getting popular among the art
lovers in India. These are being used for various purposes by the
people. You can see the Meenakari show pieces as decorative items
in drawing rooms of many houses. Modern and traditional Meenakari
designs are often seen on the bangles of many traditional women in
India. A lot of things enhanced with these beautiful prints are also
being exported to abroad by various business people and firms. These
items have become the main items of attractions in some of the fairs,
organised in India time to time. As long as the art will exist on
earth, the beautiful Meenakari designs will continue to attract the
people from every part of the world.
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