Jewellery Box Painting - Agra
The craftsmen of Agra are more known for their skilled carving in wood and stones. It is found that most of the people near Agra are found engaged in the making of the glassware and glass bangles that is transported to other parts of the city. Agra is well connected to Delhi by the airways which is also known as a center for marble carving since Taj Mahal was built. It is believed that the ancient Shilpa shasras or craft manuals have been laid down as precepts from father to son.
Decorative painters observe the relation between color and pattern of design so that it may confine the vitality and diversity from the marble surface. Based on the type of marble it is painted with different colors. Painting on the marble helps to complement nature’s supply for occurrence, where coloration and surface painting is also done for decorative value. Marble is very appropriate for architectural elements such as walls, pedestals, columns, door casing etc.
Human beings have usually decorated their walls of shelter from ages with earth pigments either with animal fat or paint the cave walls with their daily life activities. It is also simply painted to enhance the appearance of their surroundings, this same technique has been transferred to the surface of marble in Agra. Decorative painting are more frequently done by stenciling, glazing, marbling and mural painting in most of the homes. Occurrence of faux finishing is due to the right type of materials. After painting the surface is over glazed with one to two coats and then varnished to get the complete finish depth. The base coat is painted to replicate the general coloration for the final finish generally with water and oil base glaze followed by water based glaze or vice versa.
At one stage, the growing middle and upper classes also began to decorate their homes lavishly, resembling the elegance that was once reserved for nobility.
Paint is one of the essential ingredients of decorative painting. It is used to impart color and texture to both interior and exterior surfaces, as well as to provide protection from the effects of day to day use or exposure to the elements. Paint is said to have dried when it is considered dried only through touch
