|
Silver and Copperware
Both plain and engraved work is
executed to cater to the differing tastes of buyers, which include many American
tourists. The range of silverware is indeed wide: silver tea-sets, flower
vases, toilet sets, scent chests, ornamental picture-frames, cigarette-cases,
tumblers, etc. Among the flora and fauna, leaves of the chinar and the
lotus furnish the popular patterns. Designs of the lilac, a popular flower
of the Valley, are also wrought in silver.
The Kashmiri artisan also produces
excellent products of copper-ware consisting mostly of cooking pots and
samovars (tea-kettle of Russian origin) and sundry articles for the
household or the mantelpiece. There is a good demand for lovely copper trays
inlet into tables of carved walnut-wood, the carpenter working in co-operation
with the deft coppersmith. Enameled silver work is also pretty
 Papier-mâché craft,
peculiar
to Kashmir, was also introduced into the Valley by the great monarch, Sultan
Zain-ul-Abidin, who has been aptly called the Akbar of Kashmir. The products,
beautifully painted over with ornamental patterns, comprise picture-frames,
pen-cases, screens (which can view with the Chinese counterparts), tables,
tea-pots, writing sets, candle-sticks, handkerchief and tie boxes, vases, stamp
boxes and other utility goods whose need is now fairly widespread. Green fields
sloping towards the snow-capped mountains, sparkling streams running over
rounded rocks, shikaras and lotuses blooming on the lakes, are the favourite papier-mâché
patterns. The craftsmen have introduced brass and metal-lining for the new style
of papier-mâché goods which makes them more durable and useful.
|
