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Wood-Carving
Walnut and chinar wood,
abundant
in Kashmir, provides material for the wood-carving, which is among the best
known cottage industries of Kashmir.
 To make excellent furniture and
toilet articles such as chairs, cabinets, writing-or dining- tables, jewellery
boxes and ornamental caskets, which are greatly appreciated. Some of the walnut
wood products-cigar boxes and trays, table-tops, handkerchief and collar
boxes-are delicately carved. Floral designs of almost every conceivable variety
are made with great accuracy of detail in chased or raise work.
Khatam-Band
Khatam-band
is a speciality in
Kashmir woodwork and comprises ceilings of rooms, made from thin panels of pine
wood, cut into geometrical designs. Builders of houseboats have kept this old
craft alive.
In Kashmir the shrine of Khwaja
Naqshband, near the Jama Masjid of Srinagar, presents the best example of this
craft.
The Kashmiri carpentry and
wicker-work industries are notable. The boats (float-bottomed mostly) that
the carpenter makes are of many sizes, and include the famous house-boats, the
favourite residence of summer visitors. In wicker-work, Lunch and flower
baskets, chairs and tables and various other articles of common use are turned
out in elegant designs. Kangri, the Kashmiri chafing vessel, its earthen bowl
encased in wickerwork, is also made as an artefact ornamented with wicker rings
and coloured mica for the mantelpiece.
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