Sanskriti Objects
- 1. SANSKRITI OBJECTS d’ ART PORTFOLIO OF PRODUCTS
- 2. THEWA JEWELRY: MESMERIZING ART Awe-inspiring, enthralling, exotic, fascinating, mesmerizing, colorful……..so much has been written about this magnificent art of jewelry making called ‘Thewa’. Rajasthan a land of romance and chivalry has always been a hotbed of art and culture. This vibrant and colorful state has given few of the most scintillating form of arts and crafts to the world and Thewa is one such offering from the artisans of Pratapgarh, a small town of Rajasthan. “Very curious and prettily wrought” this is how British described about this art in the Rajputana Gazetteer in the early 20 th century. History and geography have changed since but the sentiment and passion about this art is still the same.
- 4. Origin Of Thewa Thewa art is more than 400 years old and considered a secret art. According to the craftsmen in Pratapgarh, this unique technique practiced only by the male members of Soni family, who call themselves Rajsoni was originated approximately seven generations ago with Nathuji Soni. He is said to have created this style of work in 1767 under the patronage of Maharana Sawant Singh, the then ruler of Pratapgarh. The secret of the art is passed directly from father to son and secret is not shared with female members of the family. As a rule, no laborer has been hired from outside the family. Jagdish Rajsoni, national award winner thewa artisan said “ Making of thewa jewelry is very time consuming and laborious work as it requires knowledge of drawings and a set of 15 mini tools is used to chisel, cut or scrape surfaces. It takes almost 5-7 days to make one Thewa set.”
- 6. The Thewa Technique Thewa is traditional art of fusing 23 ct gold with multicolored glass. The glass is treated by a special process to have glittering effects, which in turn highlights the intricate gold work. In this type of work, sheets of 23 c gold are fixed in a bed of resin and the entire design is pierced. Carefully removed from the resin, the finished gold leaf is placed on a colored glass base and heated on an open crucible for fusing. Whatever the motifs, the miniature scale of Thewa work requires extraordinary dexterity and patience. The cooling process in Thewa is critical as rapid cooling may shatter the glass, so it is allowed to cool naturally. Individual units are then fitted into bezels. Geometrical forms-ovals, squares and circles – are general norm. At this stage, each unit is backed with highly burnished, pure silver foil. This ensures color uniformity of the base glass and also increases its brilliance. Due to royal patronage Thewa has always enjoyed, the themes and symbols used in the jewelry reflected the taste and concerns of royality. Some of the common motifs depicted the hunting scene with elephant and palanquin, dear and lion, royal wedding procession, peacocks, Radha-Krishna etc.
- 8. Decline of Thewa Thewa art saw a decline after the Victorian era. Main reason for the decline in popularity was that Thewa jewelry was crafted for the special class of people. It was Raja’s and Maharaja’s, officials and high class society, who valued the art. In other word Thewa was not meant for the masses but only for the rich and famous people. Prior to independence, Thewa craftsmen relied on Royal commission, but as royal families lost their states and power, the patronage for the art was also lost. Post independence there was little interest for this luxury item. Another factor for the decline was lack of marketing and selling skills of artisans, they were not having any outlets to sell their products. However in last few years this art has revived because of constant efforts of few energetic entrepreneurs and designers. Pravita Kataria of Sanskriti Objects d’art said “We have been promoting Thewa Jewelry through exhibitions, retail outlets, franchisee and online portal. With introduction of new designs and colors, the craze and demand of Thewa jewelry has increased like anything. In most of the high profile weddings, Thewa collection is must.” Raji Govindaraj of Sanskriti Objects d’art said,” There is a lot of work to be done in linking India’s ethnic & traditional craftsmen to domestic and even global markets, these supply chains are still very unorganized and underdeveloped. Sanskriti pledges to act as a conduit in this socio-economic venture to showcase the skills & versatility of these craftsmen”.
- 10. Revival of Thewa Thewa jewelry of Rajasthani royals has today made a wonderful comeback at the social dos of the rich and famous. Intricate design, excellent craftsmanship and royal look of Thewa jewelry has made it most coveted for the modern women also. Some of the artisans are also fusing Thewa work with Kundan and Meenakari, which is giving new dimension to this art form. Young Thewa artisan Amit Soni said “ in last couple of years we have experimented a lot, new colors and shapes have been introduced to market, which are well received by the customers”. Apart from domestic market, USA, Middle East and UK are the big markets for this type of jewelry. Seeing the beauty, elegance and delicacy of this art form one can only say “ Thewah ”