Jaipur Blue Pottery

Local legend has it that Maharaja Sawai Ram II was watching his kite-master competing with other challengers when the royal kite’s string was cut by that of two brothers, Churamani and Kaluram who were potters and had coated their string with the blue-green glass-like dust of their pottery.  The king was so impressed by them that he granted them posts in the School of Arts and settled them in the Goonga Mehra ki gali in Gangori Bazaar. This is how Blue Pottery came to Jaipur.

Blue Pottery gets its name because of the predominance of blue patterns that adorn the glazed ceramic ware. Molding and wheel turning are techniques that are used in combination when bringing separate aspects of the different elements together. While the necks and bases are cast on the wheel, the bodies are usually molded in Plaster of Paris. These are then joined and a coat of white is given. It is then sanded to make it smooth and dried. Various metal oxides pigments are used when giving patterns; mostly Persian floral style is used. Then a glassy glaze is given after which it is fired during the process the milky glaze turns clear glassy and the colors begin to appear.

The women of the potters' family mainly involve in jobs like grinding the metal oxide pigments while the men take up harder jobs such as throwing the clay on the wheels or fashioning the elements in Plaster of Paris and firing.