Pottery Arts

Articles of pottery are in demand throughout the country. These products are quite expressive in form and shapes, wholesome and true to the material. Jaipur in Rajasthan has a reputation for pottery. The glazing agents are mainly blue and turquoise, derived from cobalt and copper oxide; this form is popularly known as Delhi Blue Pottery. Khurja and Rampur have a distinctive style of pottery, with raised patterns created by the use of thick "slips" in slight relief. The old traditional shapes of Khurja pottery were vital and beautifully proportioned. Other important centers of pottery in Northern India are Chunar, Azamgarh and Aligarh, where a type of interesting black pottery is also made.

Some of the ancient pottery of South India is globular or pear-shaped, ornamented with lines and patterns. South Indian terracotta art has reached a very high level of development. Stylized and magnificently modeled terra-cotta animals are still seen in some villages in South India, as also in Bengal and Maharashtra. The popular Bankura horse from Bengal is one of these. In Vellore, a notable type of pottery is made of porous white clay from which a wide variety of articles are produced, and glazed mainly in pleasing shades of green and blue.