Pethapur Block Making
Though the more recent blocks made in Pethapur are impressive in their own right, they differ from older designs as covered in the previous subsection in their fineness of the motif's edges and the motifs' density. There are fewer Veli or Jaali designs that were quite common in the craft's heyday and broader, more floral, and geometric designs, such as Ajrakh prints. Though it cannot be termed a dilution in the quality of work, the change marks a down step in the intricacy of the designs due to the following reasons:
Lack of Quality Teak:
In olden times, teak used to come directly from lumber yards and at an affordable price, whereas presently, most of the wood comes from auctions of old wood, and finding fresh teak wood is both rare and expensive. The razor-thin edges that were achieved in the past were possible only on the highest quality teak wood. This is no longer possible with the wood currently available to the artisans.
Lack of Artisans:
Workshops of the past had dozens of artisans working together, and some of them would be expert tipaiyas (those who would etch the designs) and others who were expert at gadhai (carving). Work could be delegated to others, and a master craftsman could spend more time on finer designs. Since now, an artisan has no one to delegate work to and must carry out all subprocesses himself; he cannot afford to invest the time required for overly intricate designs.
A century old block with edges thinner than 1mm, in Dahyabhai's possession.
Market Dynamics:
Another factor is perhaps the lack of asking power that the artisans have in the market and incongruence of the amount of work and remuneration. It is simply not economically feasible to produce such fine blocks.
Disappearance of Design Knowledge:
Lastly, the loss in the level of detail can be ascribed simply to a lack of creation of such fine designs and the loss of knowledge of how to recreate older designs. Perhaps this is exacerbated by a preference for more contemporary, geometric, and 'open' motifs by printers and the market.
