PAPIER MACHIE:

Papier Machie is a delicate decorative art, which shows the artistic zeal of a craftsman. This Art was introduced in Kashmir in the fifteenth century. This unique craft involves the use of paper pulp for creating beautiful artifacts. The traditional Kashmir method of making paper machie starts with waste paper, which is soaked in water for several days until is disintegrates. The excess water is drained and the soaked waste paper, cloth, rice straw and copper suphate are mixed to form a pulp. This mixture is placed in mould and left to dry for two to three more days. On the drying of pulp the shape is cut away from the mould in two halves and then glued again. The surface is coated with the layer of glue and gypsum rubbed smooth with as two or baked piece of lay and pasted with layers of tissue paper. A base colour is painted on, and a design is added free hand. The object is then sandpapered or burnished and is finally painted with several coats or lacquer. The ingenious Papier machie artisans of Kashmir transform a variety of utility article into rare art pieces. The creation of a paper machie object can be divided into two distinct categories, the sakhtsazi ( making the object) and the naqashi ( painting the surface). The colour for painting designs on the surface is obtained by grinding and soaking various vegetable minerals dyes in pigment or stone form. The final product is a beautiful art work that cannot be called a creation of one artist. It travels many pairs of talented hands before reaching a table or a mantal.