Silver Casting - Madurai, Tamilnadu
The historical background of Indian jewellery takes us back to the history of the country itself as both are almost equally old. It was around 5000 years ago when the curiosity to beautify themselves by adorning some jewellery pieces arouse in people. Since the beginning of the journey, the charm of jewellery and the beauty of Indian women by adorning it never separated. It is rare to find any woman in India who may not have ever loved to decorate herself with jewellery. In India, jewellery has not only traditional and aesthetic value but is also considered as a source of security in times of financial crisis. The amount of jewellery owned by a woman also signifies her status and adds to the riches in her name. Jewellery has covered its journey since the beginning as an evolving art form. The beauty of Indian jewellery lies in the uniqueness of its design and the efforts of the workmanship involved in creating the intricate designs.
The traditional jewellery of India has always been quite heavy consisting of voluminous gold pieces. However, with the change in times, the contemporary jewellery which is lighter in weight has gained a lot of popularity among the Indian women. Jewellery adorned by Indian women has never been limited to be of any particular stone, but has always shown a variety in it. Ornaments made of various precious and semi-precious stones like emeralds, pearls, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, etc. have been used since ages. The variety of jewellery created in India is not only to suffice the aesthetic sense, but also to fulfil the religious needs. Not only human beings are adorned with jewellery, but it is also crafted for Gods and Goddesses and even for ceremonial animals like elephants, cows, and horses.
The art of jewellery has been patronized by the royal class of India since ancient times when the right to own the most magnificent jewellery pieces even led to battles. The availability of a wide variety of Indian jewellery is mainly due to the difference in designs depending on the regional needs which include the varying tastes of people from different cultures and their lifestyles. The jewellery designs famous in different parts of India give a huge variety to the Indian jewellery in both traditional and contemporary styles. The gold jewellery designs of Tamil Nadu and Kerala draw their inspiration from nature and the Kundan and Meenakari styles of jewellery are inspired by the designs of the Mughal dynasty.
Not only gold, but there is also a vast variety of silver jewellery found all over India. The silver bead ornaments are especially popular in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. The credit for even the contemporary silver bead ornaments goes to the craftsmen of these states.
Some ornaments like mangalsutra, nose ring and toe ring are considered to be integral parts of the makeup of a married Indian woman. Since ancient times, the tradition of gifting jewellery items has continued. The only difference is in the designs of contemporary jewellery which has become modern in design to cater to the needs of the twenty-first-century women. Jewellery presented as a gift to Indian women at the time of marriage is called ‘stridhan’ which refers to the wealth of women. Though there is a lot of difference in jewellery designs adorned by women of different states in India, some basic jewellery pieces like maangtika, earrings, nose rings, necklace, mangalsutra and bangles adorned by women in India, especially the married ones, still remain the same.
The art of cutting and polishing precious and semi-precious stones for creating a mesmerizing jewellery piece has been the skill of Indian craftsmen since ages. In the modern world, though a lot of modernized styles have been used to meet the style of the urbanized civilization, the traditional style of jewellery couldn’t be moved out of fashion and it is still the most loved form of jewellery adorned by Indian women on various festive occasions. The best part about the contemporary Indian market is its beautiful blend of traditional and modern jewellery available in both gold and silver metals decorated with dazzling precious stones that attract everyone’s attention. The journey of Indian jewellery has been very long, but it has only led to an increase in its charm since ages without diminishing its craze among the women by even 1%. The needs of the people have changed for which new designs have come into view, but the exquisite and intricate traditional designs adorned by women enthralls everyone with its alluring effect.
Place:
Tamil Nadu, a state in south India was ruled by different dynasties in history and has an extraordinary cultural legacy which has come through and inherited by years. The state has nearly 62 million Tamilians who belongs to the most renowned Dravidians. The flourishing culture of Tamilians is more than 2,000 years old and has grown in a healthy and vigorous way attracting the attention of people worldwide.
There are about 74 million Tamil people in the world scattered in different places of the continents. The history of the origin of the Tamilians according to the records are said to be more than 2000 years and they belong to the Dravidian family, an ethnic group from South Asia. They speak the Dravidian language- Tamil. It was believed that they have been living in the southern parts of India and the north-eastern parts of Srilanka. The ethnicity of the Tamilians has to do with political and religious symbols of varying importance of which some have more and greater relevance applying to social issues and cultural boundaries. When it comes to the ethnicity of the Tamil people, it is usually identified by their jati title or jati name which most of the time defines their language, occupation, and political affiliation.
In their chiseled splendor and symmetrical form, the bronzes of Tamil Nadu testify the grandeur of an art form that reached the peak of perfection a thousand years ago. The people of Tamil Nadu are known for spinning and weaving which is the most important and widely practiced craft. The textile products are known for their beauty and fineness, especially silk and cotton fabrics.
Veshtis and silk sarees (Pattu Saree) during festivals are the distinct trademark clothing of Tamil couples. The traditional dress of Tamil Nadu unmarried girls is the ‘Half Saree’, which is increasingly used only in festivals as the blouse and long skirt with dupatta has been replaced by the north Indian Salwar Kameez just as the ‘Pavadai’ (blouse and skirt) for little girls is replaced by frocks and trousers and t-shirts. While men have vibhuti (along with sandal paste sometimes) on their forehead, kumkum or any other bridal decorations to suit the occasions are seen on women's forehead. Tamil Nadu women often adorn themselves with flowers in their hair, the favorite being ‘Malli Poo’ or jasmine. Gold is well loved for ornaments for men and women and most Tamil folk can be seen in some gold ornaments like big finger rings and thick neck chains.
Silver casting:
Since the evolution of mankind, man has used his intelligence and creative instinct to develop things that will reduce his labor. He shaped bowls, tools, and weapons out of stones and wood which was naturally found in nature. With the passage of time, he discovered another element in nature like gold, silver, and copper which were readily available in nature in the form of nuggets. He melted and shaped these metal according to his desires. He discovered gold pebbles with stone and copper from the copper-bearing ores that line the fire pits. He found it easy to melt the iron, copper, and gold using the fire woods and charcoal, and hence in different ages, iron and copper became the most profusely used natural materials.
History of casting dates back to 3200 BCE where the oldest known cast in existence found is a copper frog in Mesopotamia. Other early casts from around 3000BCE like weapons and cult objects were discovered in the Middle East and India. The earliest known sand mold came from China in 645 BCE. The next evidence found is in 233 BCE China, where cast iron plows were cast. In the year 500, cast crucible steel was first produced in India. This process was lost until 1750 when an Englishman named Benjamin Huntsman rediscovered it.
Gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, mercury and tin are known as the 'magnificent metals' since they were known to man from ancient times. The basic process of melting of metals in a furnace, using patterns and solidifying the metal in the mold has remained the same. Some ancient techniques like the lost form techniques and bell casting techniques are still religiously followed.
The earliest furnace was simple and easy to operate, with bee wax used for patterns and bellows for blowing air into the furnace. In the Iron Age probably ceramic ovens were used to melt the metals. Crucible and later flame ovens were available for the melting of copper, tin and lead alloys. Different types of mold made from clay, wax, and loam were known from the early times. The lost form technique was also prevalently used from the early times.
Sand casting as a technology has been around for millennia and is selected as a preferred method to produce shaped parts that weigh less than a pound, to very large parts. The process is versatile and cost-effective, even for low volume runs because of tooling cost. Nearly any part configuration that can be made in another material can be reduced to a pattern and created as a sand casting.
Advantages of sand casting:
• Capable of large sizes
• Capable of holding detail
• Useful for metals with low ductility
• Most economical type of fabrication
• Minimal waste
