Blue Pottery- The Traditional Art Of Jaipur At Its Best

India is a land of innumerable sorts of arts, and Rajasthan is certainly one of the main contributors. There are many types of arts present in this Indian state which can really mesmerize you to the core of your heart. One such traditional art is known as Blue Pottery. To be more specific, the origin of this traditional art is in Jaipur, the most vibrant city of Rajasthan. This art is widely popular as the traditional technique of Jaipur, and there are many reasons that make it so popular.

As a matter of fact, the roots of this art are even deeper, and it is related to Turko-Persian. So, which characteristic render this art the name of blue pottery? Well, the presence of strikingly attractive blue color dye is the reason behind the name. In this pottery technique, a particular shade of blue color is used for making the mixture, which in turn is used for making pots. Let us provide you more details about this popular Jaipur art.

Striking aspects of blue pottery

In this art, a material quite similar to that of Egyptian faience is used, and the ceramic material is usually of high quality. The material is then glazed followed by low-firing. As a matter of fact, in this art of pottery, no clay is used. Yes, the mixture is made by blending powdered glass, quartz stone powder, gum, water, borax, and multani mitti. In case you do not know, fuller’s Earth is called as multani mitti.

In some cases, soda bicarbonate (aka saaji) and katira gond powder is also used as the ingredients. If you check out the potteries made through this technique, you would find some of them to be semi-transparent. In addition, animal as well as bird motifs would remain common in most of them. The use of these kinds of motifs certainly makes the blue or khurja pottery amazingly attractive and beautiful. Many more types of decorating elements can be used on this pottery, and you can choose them as per your personal preference.

One thing that you need to keep in mind is that they are quite fragile in nature. Since they are fired at considerably low temperatures, for this reason, fragility remains one of their key features. Nevertheless, they can be used for wide range of purposes, such as vases, ashtrays, small bowls, trinkets, boxes, and many more. The presence of copper oxide and cobalt oxide limits the color palette to green and blue respectively. On the other hand, sometimes yellow, brown, and white colors are also obtained with the application of non-conventional ingredients.  

Nevertheless, blue color is certainly the most widely sought after one. If you visit Jaipur, you will come across numbers of shops where the blue pottery items are being sold. Fortunately, you can also purchase them online. So, browse through the collections and choose the one that you need for your living space.