Traditional Pottery of India encompasses the diversity and beauty of India itself and most particularly the stunning pottery that is made there. India has more potters than anywhere else in the world and they produce the largest terracotta sculptures ever made (up to five meters). Despite this, little is known about their work - perhaps because the potter community is low caste and disregarded in India itself. For whatever reason, the skill and beauty of the work of Indian potters has been largely unheralded.
Jane Perryman has spent more than five years researching and collecting her material from a diverse spread of geographical areas: from the western desert of Kutch to the eastern Gangian plains of West Bengal; from the northern Himalaya to the tropical south of Tamil Nadu. The material is presented as living craft in the form of in-depth studies of traditional potters and their families. Jane Perryman is an internationally acclaimed potter who draws inspiration for her own handbuilt, burnished and smoke-fired work from traditional ethnic pottery. She long ago realised that whereas the pottery of areas such as Africa, South America and native North America enjoy a high degree of respect, the Indian potter's work is poorly recognised. In this book Jane Perryman tries to rectify this situation.
This book should not only appeal to potters but also to students of other cultures and indeed to anyone interested in India as a whole. This is a beautiful book on a fascinating subject.
| Acknowledgements | 7 | |
| Foreword | 9 | |
| Preface | 10 | |
| Introduction | 13 | |
| Vessel Making | 21 | |
| 1 | Himachal Pradesh | 23 |
| 2 | Maharashtra | 43 |
| 3 | Delhi | 53 |
| 4 | Uttar Pradesh | 65 |
| 5 | Kutch | 75 |
| Lodai | 75 | |
| Khavda | 85 | |
| Votive Terracotta | 95 | |
| 6 | Tamil Nadu | 97 |
| 7 | Rajasthan | 119 |
| 8 | Madhya Pradesh | 129 |
| Kondagaon | 129 | |
| Sarguja | 137 | |
| 9 | Gujarat | 147 |
| Chota Udepur | 150 | |
| Mandvi | 157 | |
| 10 | West Bengal | 171 |
| Glossary | 187 | |
| Bibliography | 192 |
Overview
Traditional ...