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Bankura Pottery:
The principal centres where the terracotta horses and
elephants are produced are Panchmura, Rajagarm, Sonamukhi and Hamirpur.
Each of these four centres has its local style. Bankura horse is very
popular. The Bankura pottery is mainly used for ritualistic purposes.
The rituals are almost all exclusively associated with local village gods
and folk-festivals in the worship of various kinds of tribal, semi-tribal
and folk deities. The Panchmura-style of pottery is the best and the finest
of all the four types. The symmetry of shape, the rhythm of the rounded
curves of the body, especially of the horse, have lent a dignity and charm
to it's form which is incomparable. Simplicity and dynamism are the chief
components of Panchmura-style. It is more sophisticated than the other
three types-Rajagram, Sonamukhi and Kamirpur types are a little less sophisticated
and more massive. In Jhargram and Gopiballavpur areas in Midnapore district,
within the tribal belt, the terracotta horses assume a crude near-primitive
form and are fully hand modeled.
Tools: The tools used for making Bankura Pottery
are Ucha which is a semi circular piece pf bamboo used for surface finishing,
Balya which is a stone tool of about 3.5 " (inches) by 3 " used as a beater
of the inner surface of a pot, Pitna which is a wooden beater of about
10 " by 4 " used for beating and shaping the outer surface of the pot
or Chiari made of bamboo of about 4.5 " by .5 " used for decorating
clay figures. Other than these tools, there are potters wheels and kilns
for firing. The kilns are generally of circular or parabolic (Kula-type
or bamboo fan shaped) with enclosures on all sides with a permanent stoke-hole.
It is locally known as Sheuna Poan and the circular type is known as Berasal
Poan.
Process: The terracotta horses and elephants
are turned out in separate parts, on the wheel. The four legs, the full
neck in two parts and the face (seven pieces in all) are turned out separately
on the wheel for the horse and then joined up by hand. Similar process
is applied to the elephant also. After the parts are joined up by hand,
the figures of horses and elephants take shape. By Ucha and Chiari the
figures are scraped and made even. Additional clay is used for making
up defects in the body and giving it the right shape and form. The figures
are then allowed to dry in the sun. The leaf-like ears and the tails are
done in moulds and are later inserted in grooves left on the body. After
a little drying in the sun, holes are made on appropriate parts of the
body. This is done before full drying, otherwise the inner and the outer
surface of the body will not be equally dry. Cracks may develop in the
body for unequal drying of the inner and the outer portions. The dehydration
is slowly done in the normal temperature of a closed room for about six
or seven days. Then they are brought out of the room and heated in the
sun. On the figures thus heated the colour coats are given and the main
work of coloring is done before firing in the kiln. The whole work of
coloring is done by women from natural colours prepared from clay.
The natural earths (clay) are generally of three types.(1)
Khadigad, looks white like chalk (2) Bhalogad, looks yellowish, glazy
and oily and (3) Banak, looks brownish, oily and glazy. These earths produced
from natural resources, are powdered and dissolved in water. The ingredients
are placed in earthen vessels for about two or three months, while testing
the water and sifting the sediment of sand from time to time. The residual
portion is thickened into pigment under sun and preserved for coloring.
The three kinds of pigments, khadigad, Bhalogad and Banak are mixed with
water and applied one after another on the pot and animal figures. Firing
is done after coloring.
The terracotta horses and elephants of Bankura are
turned out in two different shapes. The normal terracotta red color is
obtained by letting out the smoke through the vents of the kiln after
firing, and the black color, by sealing the vents and not letting out
the smoke. |
