Pottery
Maharashtra
Pottery is perhaps the oldest craft in the world.
Traditional folk pottery has always been a part of Indian life and
ceremonies. From pre-historic times, there has been an abundance
of beautifully fashioned utilitarian pottery. It is one of the most ancient
crafts surviving today. Different varieties of pottery like red, black,
buff and grey were often painted with black and white pigments or
decorated with geometrical incisions. Domestic pottery comes in a
bewildering profusion of attractive shapes and sizes.
The process of pottery involves modelling, shaping of clay, drying and
firing. Clay can be categorized as primary clay which include china
clay and bentonite and secondary clay which include common clay,
red clay, ball clay and fire clay. The potter throws the painstakingly
kneaded clay onto the centre of the wheel, rounding it off, and
then spinning the wheel around with a stick. As the whirling gathers
momentum, he begins to shape the clay into the required form. When
finished, he skillfully severs the shaped bit from the rest of the clay
with a string. Though the firing is done in an improvised kiln, the quality
and beauty remains unaffected. Intricate glaze is made from a mixed
composition, fired to form a vitreous material with a glazed surface,
and then coloured by different mineral substances.
Pottery is generally classified as earthenware, stoneware and porcelain,
in relation to the clay used and the firing temperatures.
Abhay Pandit trained in the art of working with ceramics under the tutelage of his father Bramhadeo
Ram Pandit, a founding member of Paramparik Karigar, who received the Shilp Guru Award in
2008 and the Padma Shri in 2013. He holds a degree in ceramics from the J.J. School of Art. He
trained under Ray Mecker in Pondicherry and has created textures with wire art techniques and
tools. In 2009, he studied Raku smoke pottery with David Roberts in Holmfirth, U.K. He received
the Charles Wallace India Trust Award from the British Council in 2005 to study pottery in U.K. In
2013, he undertook a residency at the Fuping Pottery Art village in China.
