Crafts / Sawantwadi Lacquerware

Sawantwadi Lacquerware

State: Maharashtra
Material: Wood · Lac · Tempera
Rarity: Rare

Lacquered toys and painted cards from a Konkan palace town

About

Brightly painted wooden toys and Dashavatar Ganjifa cards made in Sawantwadi.

Sawantwadi, a town in Sindhudurg district on the Konkan coast of Maharashtra, is known for its handmade wooden toys and its painted Ganjifa cards, both of which are finished in lacquer. The toys are carved or turned from locally available wood and painted in bright colours, and include fruits, birds, animals, miniature kitchen utensils, bullock carts, horses and toy cars.

Traditionally the toys were made by the Chitari or Chitrakar families, painters by caste, though the craft has been taken up by many others because of its commercial success. The woods used are mango, jackfruit and pangara, the Indian coral tree, all of which grow locally.

Sawantwadi is also known for Ganjifa, round hand-painted playing cards. The best-known set is the Dashavatar Ganjifa, with 120 cards in ten suits showing the ten incarnations of Vishnu. Sawantwadi also has a palace, home to the royal family of the former Sawantwadi state, with a museum that is dedicated in part to Ganjifa.

How it’s made

Sawantwadi toys are made in three main ways. In the first, solid wood is sculpted: the seasoned wood is cut into logs and dried to remove moisture, cut into blocks, and then shaped with files, chisels, saws and cutters. The shaped pieces are heated in a kiln, called a bhatti, to remove any remaining moisture, and sometimes assembled with nails and glue.

In the second method, wood and lac turnery, several toys are turned at the same time on a powered lathe, and lac, mixed with colours, is applied to the toys as they turn, giving them a smooth shiny finish. In the third method, flat-shaped pieces are cut with a jigsaw, smoothed with sandpaper, painted, and then assembled into toys.

For the painted toys, a primer is applied over the wood and allowed to dry. The toy is then painted, with colours mixed with lac or water-based colours, and finally coated with varnish or lacquer to protect and enhance the colour. For the Ganjifa cards, paper is coated with tamarind seed paste and oil, painted with water-based tempera colours in floral borders and figures from mythology, and covered with lacquer. Each suit has a different background colour.

Key features

Wooden toys of mango, jackfruit or pangara wood
Made by sculpting, lathe turning with lac, or assembling flat pieces
Primer, bright colours and a protective lacquer coat
Fruits, birds, animals, miniature kitchen sets and bullock carts
Hand-painted Ganjifa playing cards in a lacquer finish
Lacquerware introduced to Sawantwadi in the late seventeenth century
Traditionally made by Chitari (Chitrakar) families

History

It is recorded that in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries a number of learned Brahmins from Andhra and Telangana visited Sawantwadi, and they brought with them the arts of Ganjifa and lacquerware. The craft of lacquerware was introduced around the end of the seventeenth century, and during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries various schools of the craft were started in the town.

Ganjifa cards are believed to have originated in Persia and to have come to India through the Mughals in the sixteenth century. In royal courts, cards were made of rich materials such as ivory and tortoise shell, and in the bazaar of cheaper materials, such as palm leaf or stiffened cloth. In Sawantwadi, Ganjifa cards were made from paper covered with a mixture of tamarind seed powder and oil, painted and coated with lac. Artisans added Indian motifs, such as figures from the Ramayana, the Dashavatara and the zodiac. Only a few families in places such as Mysore, Puri, Bishnupur and Sawantwadi still practise Ganjifa today.

Today the makers of Sawantwadi toys face competition from cheap mass-produced toys. In 2010 there were attempts to obtain Geographical Indication registration for them, and organisations and designers work with the artisans to find new markets.

Facts

3 methods Three ways to make a toy. Sawantwadi toys are made by sculpting solid wood, by wood and lac turnery on a lathe, and by assembling flat-cut pieces.
Pangara Local woods. Toys are made from the locally available wood of mango, jackfruit and pangara (Indian coral tree) trees.
120 cards The Dashavatar Ganjifa. The Dashavatar Ganjifa is a set of 120 cards in 10 suits of 12, based on the ten incarnations of Vishnu.
Late 1600s Lacquerware arrives. Lacquerware was introduced to Sawantwadi around the end of the seventeenth century by Brahmins from Andhra and Telangana.

Market

Toys, cards and gifts

Sawantwadi toys and Ganjifa cards are sold in the town, at the palace, at craft emporia, fairs and online, as toys, decor pieces and gifts. Cheap mass-produced toys compete, so ask about the wood and finish: hand-painted lacquer toys have a smooth, glossy finish and small variations from piece to piece.

Sustainability

Local woods and lac finish

The toys use locally available mango, jackfruit and pangara woods, and a natural lac finish where lac is used. Choosing hand-made wooden toys over plastic keeps a rural craft alive.

Products

Lacquer toys: Painted wooden toys: fruits, birds, animals and figures
Miniature kitchen sets: Tiny painted utensils
Bullock carts, horses and toy cars: Wooden vehicles and animals
Ganjifa playing cards: Hand-painted round cards, including the Dashavatar set
Painted wooden platforms and boxes: Ceremonial and decorative wooden items

Words to know

Lac: A natural resin used as a lacquer and mixed with colours.
Ganjifa: Traditional hand-painted round playing cards.
Dashavatar: The ten incarnations of Vishnu, the theme of the best-known Ganjifa set.
Bhatti: A kiln used to remove the last moisture from the wood.
Pangara: The Indian coral tree, a local wood used for toys.
Chitari / Chitrakar: The painter families who traditionally made the toys.

Try it yourself

Sawantwadi Painted Fruit · Beginner · 1 - 2 hours (plus drying)
Sawantwadi Ganjifa Cards · Intermediate · 3 - 5 hours (plus drying)