All that glitters is not gold. And all that looks blue is not blue pottery of Jaipur. One needs to have a keen eye to differentiate the real one from the fake. The Blue Pottery art , that was introduced in Jaipur in 14th century, but flourished in mid 19th century, is a traditional craft of Jaipur. The name ‘blue pottery’ comes from the eye-catching cobalt blue dye used to colour the pottery. It is one of many Eurasian types of blue and white pottery, and related in the shapes and decoration to Islamic pottery and, more distantly, Chinese pottery.
Jaipur blue pottery encompasses multiple influences. It has been strongly influenced by the Persian ceramic style but it has developed its own designs and motifs. It also finds influence of Islamic art, and a little but of Chinese art as well. Inspired more from nature, the pottery is adorned profusely with animals, birds and flowers with a hint of Persian geometric design in the compositions.
Jaipur blue pottery, made out of ceramic frit material, is glazed and low-fired. No clay is used in making blue pottery. The dough for the pottery is prepared by mixing quartz stone powder, powdered glass, Katira gum (a kind of plant based adessive material) and water. A very small quantity of multani mitti (fuller’s earth) is also added to the mixture. This is what differentiates it from other pottery arts.
History
The history of pot manufacturing can be said to be as old as human civilisation itself .The human beings, in whatever stage of civilisation, had always needed some sort of pots for eating, drinking or preserving .With the passage of time and progress of civilisation, numerous improvements, innovations and changes have been witnessed in pot manufacturing.
The Blue Pottery’s origin lies in Iran. It is from there that it gradually spread towards Delhi and Agra through Afghanistan. But presently, there seems no comparison of Jaipur Blue Pottery to any other place in the entire world. The credit for development of this art in Jaipur goes to its erstwhile ruler Sawai Ram Singh –II (1835-1880). For about 100 years, the art of Blue Pottery continued to flourish here. But there after, for reasons unknown, this art gradually vanished in its entirety.
In the year 1963, the responsibility for pouring life to the dying art had been handed over to Padmashri Kripal Singh Shekhawat. It is with his untiring efforts that the art has once again surged with full life and in various dimensions. Not only this, but Shri Shekhawat took deep pains for about five years to train and perfect his devoted pupil Shri Gopal Saini. M. A. in drawing and painting. Shri Saini has given blue pottery, by establishing his own unit called –Ram Gopal Blue Pottery, varied dimensions and taken the art to the Pinnacles of art and craft. In his workshop, innovative experiments are continuously carried out with regard to colours, shapes and designs. Not only this Mohan Jodaro and Harappa Cultures are also found reflected in his creations.
Big size egg shaped Pitchers, Tiles, Statues like Lord Ganesh, Elephants, Peacocks, Birds, Fountains, Vases, Bowls, Door Knobs, Incense Stick Stands, Bathroom Fittings, Coasters, Napkin Holders, Perfume Bottles, Lamps, Minar Lamp,51” Minar(Sarga Suli), big panel set of tiles like Phad painting, hanuman chalisa, flower composition and infinitum can be found in his workshop. Embossed items and scintillating colour combinations attract every one’s attention toward his art and craft. It is only because of quality, dexterity and impressive outlook, that his creations have loudly been acclaimed not only in India but also in foreign countries like –Italy, Switzerland, Australia, England etc.
The art of Blue Pottery involves entirely manual process and hence is utmost labour intensive. It provides employment, directly and indirectly, to hundreds of people in the surrounding area. Recently Jaipur Blue Pottery have been registered for G.I. (Geographical Indication).
Process
Manufacturing of Blue Pottery involves use of Quartz Powder, Indigenous Glass Powder, katira, saji and Multani soil. All these mixed in a certain proportion, dough is prepared. Thereafter with this dough utensils are prepared and put in sun to dry them up. After drying up, a coat of quartz and glass powder is applied. Then with Cobalt Oxide, lines, flowers and other designs are marked on the Pots. There after these are coloured with copper oxide, chromium and other metallic oxide colours and then coat of glaze is applied. Lastly, the Pots are put in wooden fire kilns with the heat 750`C to 800`C in one instance.
It is worth wile to note that in Blue Pottery manufacturing of big size pots is an extremely tedious and risky affair. There is always an element of risk of the Pots getting cracks or colours becoming faded. The risk is further enhanced in the pots like lamps created with Net-work with numerous meshes and intricate embossed work. In recent times, some artists like Mr Saini , with his own innovative techniques and discoveries has done wonders to accept not only the inherent challenges but to create in Blue Pottery even the Kashmir’s paper Massey’s water melon shaped items.
Featured Artist
The empires have traditionally been transferred from a father to a son. May it be the political empire, business empire or art empire. But there are a few instances where a father proudly transfers the empire to his daughter. Shilp Guru Gopal Saini is one of these rare fathers, whose art legacy is being taken ahead by his daughter Garima Saini.
Mr Gopal Saini has done masters in Art and Painting. Mr Gopal Saini learned the Blue Pottery art directly from Kripalsinghji Shekhawat, the artist who revived Blue Pottery in India. Mr Saini was pursuing PhD, and the topic of his PhD was “Kripalsinghji ki Kala Sadhana”. While working on the PhD, he got in touch with KripalSingh Shekhawat and learned the art from him. He never submitted the thesis, but instead decided to further propagate the art of Blue Pottery, through a studio he founded, “Ramgopal Blue Pottery Studio”. The studio was formed in 1993, and has been going strong since then.
His daughter, Garima, used to accompany him on exhibitions and in the studio, since she was in 9th grade. She did in Masters in International Business. While she was exploring career opportunities after her masters, she decided to join the studio for a month, to understand the working of the studio. And her association with Ramgopal Blue Pottery Studio got converted into 9 years from one month. She, along with her father, are trying to revive the art style and keep it alive.
Talking about the challenged faced in the art, Garima tells how the long processing time of the art, makes it an unattractive career choice for younger generation. A single product in blue pottery takes almost 45 days to be created. And half the times, there are chances of breakage or damage in the manufacturing process. The process of making this pottery can not be mechanised because of the unique texture of the material. The whole process has to be done by hand only. Because the whole process is done manually, and the art needs to be carefully handcrafted, the price of the end product goes high. With cheaper and fake alternates available in the market, finding a customer for the authentic product is also sometimes difficult. Hence, finding a golden mean between creativity and monetary gain becomes a difficult task.
The father-daughter duo of Ramgopal Blue Pottery studio is trying hard to keep the art alive by exhibiting the products at multiple occasions, and also providing training in the art. He exhibited blue pottery products as India GI Fair at Greater Noida, Delhi 26th to 28th August 2022; International Folk Art Alliance, Santa Fe, New Mexico City, USA; International Trade Fair organized at Istanbul (TURCKEY); as part of India’s participation in the 23rdExpoartesanias 2013 held from 06-19th December 2013 in Bogota, Colombia; International Trade Fair at Pragati Maidan, Delhi; Rajeev Bhavan, Delhi; Art Fair Organized in Gwalior; Birla Auditorium, Jaipur; Ceraglass, Sita Pura Jaipur; Virasat Exhibition at the Monalisa Kalagram from 5th -10th October 2017 at Pune, India. He also represented India in the Iceland during 13 days ceramic work shop and imparted training of blue pottery to the artists of that country.
Garima Saini Represented Blue Pottery of Jaipur at the opening of Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre with Swadesh (31st march to 2nd April 2023). She participated as Mentor at Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue national youth Festival 2025; and got the opportunity to have a lunch with PM Narender Modi. She also represented Blue pottery of Jaipur at 141st Session of International Olympic Committee 15th to 17th October 2023. She is one of the two women artists from India, to be invited at the launch of Jio World Plaza in Mumbai where Mrs. Nita Ambani introduced blue pottery of Jaipur in her speech and spoke of Garima’s journey. Her Circle magazine featured Garima on their 7th cover where they showcased Crafts – women of India. Garima also represented Blue pottery of Jaipur at World Economic Forum from 15th Jan to 19th Jan 2024 at Davos, Switzerland. She also represented Blue Pottery Of Jaipur at the Pre Wedding festivities of Anant and Radhika at Jamnagar, Gujrat (29th Feb to 1st March 2024).
The duo also received multiple awards and recognitions for their art. Mr. Gopal Saini received Shilp Guru Award (2016) by Ministry of Textiles, Government of India; National Award (2009) by Ministry of Textiles, Government of India; Maharana Sajjan Singh Award (2012) by Maharana Mewar Foundation, Udaipur; Raja Bhagwant Das Award (2020) by city palace, jaipur for excellence in Traditional Crafts of Jaipur on 22nd Oct 2020; Rajasthan Lalit Kala Academy –State level Award (1989); Rajasthan Lalit Kala Academy –Student Award (1988). He was honored by Rajasthan Government on 15 august 2013 by honorable chief minister; honored by Manak Sanstha Madhuban, Bhopal by Shreshtha Kala Acharaya Awards; honored by INIFD (Kamla Poddar Group) with Life Time Achievement Award in the Field of Blue Pottery (2023).
Garima has received Suresh Neotia Award for New Generation Crafts Person (2024) by Indian Institute of Crafts & Design (IICD) Jaipur. She is felicitated by Mahatma Jyotiba Fule Rashtriya Sanstha (Rajasthan) ; by Consortium of Women Entrepreneurs of India for women achiever’s award 2024 and by Jeewan Jagrati Foundation.
Indian.Temples Research & Media Services