A trip to Dhamrai - Mud

Whilst we watched the jeweler work, a woman was making clay bowls on a type of small hand wheel. She sat on a clay stool no more than 10cm high and pushed a lump of clay into the bottom of a bowl form, turning the mold she continued to push and stretch the clay. Sand was used as a release agent for the finished artefact. The bowls were produced to orders for sale in the cities.

It was unclear if gender was specific to different materials – in the village it appeared that men worked with metal and women clay.

The bowls are used to hold and sell a custard type desert.

Two piece molds were used to make elephants and tigers. The moulds are made from plaster or cement. The covered open space outside the house allows for a place to work and for the clay to dry.

See the process here: Two piece molds.

There is also a tradition of hand modelling low reliefs, the panels are attached to walls and have a folk lore or religious narrative similar to the Kantha textiles.

I didn’t see any kilns it would be interesting to see how the work is fired.

Preparing the clay.

The oldest buildings in the village are made from mud, often mixed with rice husks, jute fibre or straw, this method of construction is rare now. Newer houses are made from brick or the cheaper, corrugated galvanized steel.