Ivory artisans of Murshidabad3, মুর্শিদাবাদের হাতির দাঁতের কারিগর৩

হাতির দাঁতের কারিগরদের কর্মশালা ১৮৫১র ছবি

The first thing the carver does is to cut a block of

ivory of sufficient bulk for the article required. On this a

tracing of the object to be carved is drawn in pencil, but

sometimes the design is sketched on paper. A clever workman

can carve without any preliminary sketch, if the article to be

manufactured is one which he is accustomed to carve. After this,

the model is roughly shaped by means of chisels, large and small,

according to the size of the parts to be chiselled oil. Then files of

different sizes and fineness are employed to work the model into a

finer shape, and drills of different sizes are used to drill holes for

perforated work. Finishing touches are given with an iron

stylus, which the carvers call by tbe common name for a pen,

kalam. The kalams are of vaiious degrees of fineness, some as fine

as needles and others like knives or sketch-erasers. When the

model has been brought exactly to the designed shape, it is soaked

in water for some time, and the surface is polished, first with fish

scales and lastly with common chalk. For fastening figures

into stands and for joining parts, email ivory pegs are used.

For turning, a heavy lathe is used. When they have to carve

from a new pattern, and they find that none of their existing

tools are suitable or fine enough for the work, the Bhaskars will

at once improvise a suitable tool, in the middle of their

work.

The following list of the articles produced by the carvers is

given in Mr. Gr. C. Dutt's Monograph on Ivory Carving in Bengal.

Formerly they supplied a local demand for images of the gods,

but now for the most part turn out an assortment of table orna-

ments and knick-knacks, mainly for the European market : -

হাতির দাঁতের কাজ করা আসবাবপত্র, লন্ডনের একটি নিলাম সংস্থার ছবি

no	Articles	prices	Remarks
1	2	3	4
1	Alphabet	1 to 1½ annas per letter
2	Durga(the ten handed goddess, with her attendant gods and goddesses in the act of fighting with the giant Mahisasura)	Rs. 50 to Rs.300	The best article that can be made from one block of ivory can be had for Rs. 150.
3	Kali standing on the body of Shiva with two attendant goddesses	40 to 120	The price varies according to the size of the pieces, and also according to the quality of the work
4	Jagaddhatri standing on the lion and elephant with two attendant goddesses	50 to 125
5	Jagannath’s car procession	50 to 150
6	Palanquin, single or with bearers and attendants	15 to 100
7	Chessman	25 to 250
8	Work-box	25 to 300
9	Elephant, single or caparisoned, or fighting with tiger	5 to 150
10	Horse, plain or with rider	2 to 30
11	Bullock-carts	8 to 50
12	Maur-pankhi, or peacock state barge	10 to 100
13	Camel, single or with driver	4 to 40
14	Cow, single or with calf	3 to 20
15	Dog	2 to 8
16	Pig	2 to 10
17	Buffalo	3 to 20
18	Crocodile	5 to 20
19	Deer	2 to 15
20	Plough with ploughman	3 to 20
21	Locket and chain(with or without gold or silver mounting)	5 to 50
22	Earrings	4 to 10
23	Figures of zanana ladies. Hindu priests, washermen, water carriers, peons, porters, tailors, sepoys, fakirs, policemen	2 to 5 each
24	Paper cutter	1 to 30
25	Bangles, bracelets with or without gold or silver mountings	25 and upwards
26	Card case	6 to 15
27	Knitting needles	8 anna for set of four
28	Crochet needles	Do
29	Napkin ring	2 to 8
30	Photo frame	15 to 60
31	Caskets	30 to 100
32	Walking sticks	25 to 75
33	Chamurs or fly-flap	--
34	Combs	---

" The above list," writes Mr. G. C. Dutt, " is by no means

exhaustive. The Murshidabad carvers turn out various other toys

and trinkets, and of mythological subjects there is, perhaps, no

end. Only one mythological figure the Murshidabad Bhaskars

will not carve or sell, and that it is that of Krishna, as they are

his followers * and cannot create or sell the deity they worship.

Although the Murshidabad carvers can carve any practicable

model of almost every useful and ornamental object, it must not

be supposed that there is a regular supply of all these things

in the market, nor should one expect to find many such objects

in daily use anywhere, except, perhaps, the bangles and combs

which are worn by up-country and Deccan women generally.

There is usually but a limited and fitful outturn-."

* They belong to the Vaishnava sect.

Ivory artisans of Murshidabad2, মুর্শিদাবাদের হাতির দাঁতের কারিগর২

হাতির দাঁতের কারিগিরেরা তাদের শিল্প দ্রব্য বিক্রি করছেন, ১৮৫১র ছবি

The causes of its decline are stated as follows by Mr. G.C.

Dutt in his Monograph on Ivory Carving in Benaal (1901) :

" For lack of encouragement the Murshidabad carvers have

been obliged to sacrifice quality to quantity. Established during

the declining days of the Nawabs of Murshidabad, the encour-

agement the art received from them was but limited and sporadic.

During the palmy days of Cossimbazar, when many Europeans

belonging to the cotton and silk factories of the old East India

Company lived there, the ivory carvers carried on a brisk

business, both in the district and out of it. Even in 1811, when

the place was fast sinking into the obscurity from which it had

temporarily emerged, it was still noted for silk, hosiery, korahs

and inimitable ivory work. Similarly, when Berhampore rose

into importance as the chief military station in this province

the art flourished there for a time, but with the decline of the

military importance of the town it began to wane, and had it

not been for the railway communication which has made a trade

with Calcutta and Bombay possible, the art would have died out

long ago. Formerly the ivory carvers used sometimes to get

large orders from Government for supplying specimens of their

work for the various exhibitions in England and other European

countries, as also in India, but this has been discontinued in

recent years, as collections for exhibitions are now generally

made on loan from noblemen and zammdars, like the Nawab of

Murshidabad and the Maharaja of Cossimbazar, who have the

very best specimens in their possession.

" Within the last 30 years the industry has altogether died

out from Mathra, Daulatbazar and Ranshagorgram, all three

villages near the city of Murshidabad. Thirty years ago there

were over 50 families of ivory carvers at Mathra, and even so

recently as 12 years back there were about a dozen houses left.

Many of them died of malarious fever, and the few survivors

have migrated to Baluchar, Berhampore and other places. At

present there is not a single Bhaskar in Mathra, and there are

not more than 25 ivory carvers, principal and apprentices all told,

living in the district."

The best workers, it may be added, live in Khagra, a quarter

of Berhampore. The Murshidabad Art Agency has been started

for the advertisement and exhibition of specimens of the art.

The peculiar features of the work are the minuteness of the

carving, which requires 70 to 80 different tools, and the

absence of joins. The carvers hate joins, and would rather

make a small image in which none are required, than a large

article which would sell at double or treble the price, because in

the latter they would have to join the pieces together. The tools

are of a simple character, being mostly ordinary carpenters'

tools, though some are far smaller and finer. They use Assam or

Burma ivory for the most part, as it is light and soft and yields

easily to the chisel without any preliminary process of softening.

For the solid end of the tusk, which is called the nakshidant,

they pay generally Rs. 8-8 to Rs. 10 per seer ; for the middle

portion, known as khovdidant, Rs. 15 to Rs. 16 a seer ; and for

the thick end, which is hollow (galhardant), Rs. 7 to Rs. 8 per

seer. African ivory, which the carvers say is hard, and

therefore liable to crack under the chisel, sells at Rs. 2 to Rs. 3

per seer less.

Ivory artisans of Murshidabad1, মুর্শিদাবাদের হাতির দাঁতের কারিগর১

From

BENGAL DISTRICT GAZETTEERS MURSHIDABAD.

BY L. S, S. O'MALLEY

১৮৭৫ সালে ভারত সফররত প্রিন্স অফ ওয়েলসকে মুর্শিদাবাদের হাতির দাঁতের কারুকার্য উপহার দেওয়ার প্রস্তুতি

Another industry for which the district is famous is ivory

Carving. The skill of the carvers and the high estimation in which

their work has been held are sufficiently attested by the remarks

of Professor Royle in Lectures on the Arts and Manufactures of

India (1852) with reference to the exhibits sent to the London

Exhibition of 1851 :

"A variety of specimens of carving in ivory have been sent from

different parts of India and are much to be admired, whether

for the minuteness of size, for the elaborateness of detail, or

for the truth of representation. Among these the ivory-carvers

of Berhampore are conspicuous. They have sent a little model

of themselves at work, and using, as is the custom of India, only

a few tools. The set of chess-men carved from the drawings in

Layard's ' Nineveh ' were excellent representations of what they

could only have seen in the above work, showing that they are

capable of doing new things when required ; while their represent-

ations of the elephant and other animals are so true to nature,

that they may be considered the works of real artists and should

be mentioned rather under the head of fine arts than of mere

manual dexterity." In 1888 again the Murshidabad carvers

were declared to be perhaps the best in India, "fully displaying

the finish, minuteness and ingenuity characteristic of all true

Indian art."

The industry dates back to the time when the Nawabs

of Bengal had their court at Murshidabad. The legend of its

introduction is quaint. The Nawab, it is said, one day called

for an ear-pick or scratcher, and when one made of grass

was brought, said that it was not worthy of the dignity of a

Nawab and that one must be made of ivory. An ivory carver

was therefore brought from Delhi to make one. While he

was at work, a Hindu Bhaskar spied on him through a hole

in the wall and learnt his art, which he taught his son, Tulsi

Khatumbar. The latter soon excelled his father and was made

carver in ivory to the Nawab. He was a pious Hindu and  

anxious to go on pilgrimage, and, this being known, a guard was

set over him, for fear that he might leave the city, At last he

managed to escape and went on pilgrimage to various places,

paying his way by his work. After an absence of 17 years, he

returned to Murshidabad and was summoned before the Nawab,

who ordered him to make from memory a carving of the late

Nawab. The statue he produced was so life-like, that the Nawab,

in admiration of his genius, gave him his salary in full for the

17 years he had been away and presented him with a house

in Mahajantuli. To this day, it is said, " the ivory carvers of

Murshidabad bend their heads and raise their hands in veneration

whenever the name of Tulsi is mentioned." Whatever be the

truth of the legend, the art appears to have been from the

first the monopoly of the Bhaskars, whose original hereditary

occupation is the manufacture of clay and wooden images, wood

carving and wall painting. It was an industry which depended

for its prosperity on the support of a luxurious court and wealthy

noblemen, and when the Nawabs lost their power and their

court disappeared, it languished.