Some Old Indian Art-Crafts

Restricted meanings create tremendous mischief in the sphere of understanding; false associations creep in where no such really exist. And with the advent of these, the entire outlook changes, and confusion and disorder arise. The word ‘art’ suffers from exactly a similar disease and is generally taken to mean any one of the fine arts as they are commonly understood; and distinctions are drawn first between arts and crafts and then between the so-called ‘fine’ and ‘useful’ arts. The absurdity in this division and classification is clearly revealed to us when we consider the real meaning of these words. The words ‘art’ as well as ‘craft’ mean ‘skill’; the words ‘artful’ and ‘crafty’ mean the same thing and connote the idea of cunning which can never be the attribute of a person devoid of skill. Thus we have the skill of a workman in any particular handicraft, meaning art. Again the division between arts into useful and fine is false and mistaken. There can be no art, however fine and attractive it might be, and however much mind and imagination might play in it, that is absolutely useless. Utility cannot and should not be dissociated from the so called fine arts; they are not luxuries as some hold them to be: nor should the so-called useful arts be taken as mere mechanical utilities lacking any element of beauty and artistry. It is this wrong classification that Morris so very much deplores and his lectures, especially that on ‘Art and its Producers,’ would convince one of the futility of this division.

The Sanskrit word ‘silpa’ that corresponds to the word ‘art’ is quite all-embracing and is meant to connote all the arts that involve human skill. There are sixty-four such arts recognised in India and we have an enumeration of all these in the ‘Sukranitisara’ as also in various other books. The ‘Amarakosa’ gives this definition of ‘silpa,’–‘Silpam karma kaladikam,’ and under the ‘Unadisutra,’ ‘Khashpasilpasa-shpabashparupaparpatalpah,’ we have it given ‘Silpam kausalam’; and this gives us exactly the sense of skill involved in both the words art and craft. Dancing, music, sculpture, painting, cookery, garland-making and a host of other practical sciences are included under this head.

Of these various arts the art of paper-cuts, so very popular today and so very often seen in art exhibitions, appears to have been most popular in old India. One of the many arts learnt by the grandees of our land happens to be this. Thus we have ‘patracchedana ‘ as one of the arts learnt by Avantisundari and her companions as part of their general education, and it happens to be a ‘Vinodasthana.’^l A knowledge of ‘patracchedana,’ ‘alekhya karma’ and ‘pustakriya’ i.e., paper-cuts, painting, and sculpture or modelling, coupled with an acquaintance with the arts of music and dance, was considered a great asset in those days, and the humorous description of Bhattaputra found in the ‘Kuttanimata’ as trying to display a knowledge of all these which he did not actually possess, shows us all the more clearly how much such knowledge was valued, even to the extent of a fool dabbling in them.

Bhattaputra, the proud and foolish lazy drone of a son of a nobleman, is pictured as holding up in his hand the ‘patra-kartari’ for a mere make-believe, to deceive people into a belief of his knowledge of the art.² Of the ‘patrakartari’ we know very little. It appears to have been the instrument used for cutting ‘patra’ and, as the name suggests, should have had the form of a pair of scissors. The ‘patra’ used might have been both leaf and paper, since both were freely used at that time. But the ancient ‘patrakartari’ has now become as extinct as the old surgical instruments of India whose descriptions and use are given at great length in the medical works like ‘Susruta Samhita’ and ‘Ashtangahridaya’ but remain quite unknown even to the medical world by reason of long disuse.

The intaglio process of engraving designs on gems and metals, which has now taken a new shape in the popular dry-point of today, is an interesting study by itself. Though prints were never taken it can never be denied that all designs cut on all pots, plates, platters, pitchers, jugs, mugs and hosts of other vessels, on seals, inscription-plates and so on, are anything but different from, being analogous to, modern dry-point. In fact, the process of dry-point takes us to the primitive man who scratched his pictures on pieces of bone and stone.

The importance of dry-point cannot be overrated. Etching is in fact an outcome of dry-point, and the art of biting metal plates with acid was first practised at the beginning of the 16th century in both Germany and Holland, the word ‘etch’ being derived from the old High German ‘esjan,’ ‘to cause to eat’ as with an acid. This process was first developed by the armourers and jewellers of the 15th century who filled in the incised lines of the elaborate patterns on weapons and ornaments with black paint to make them stand in bold relief, and pieces of paper pressed on them to take prints of these for a better view of the work of ornamentation gave rise to this process of printing of etchings and dry-point plates. Though, no prints were ever taken, (even if taken they would be prints the wrong way), the palm-leaf manuscripts of old India with letters incised on the leaves with the pointed iron style (Lat-stilus) were smeared over with black colour (soot) for a better view of the letters, while reading them. We have also pictures drawn on palm leaf attached to the manuscripts and these correspond to dry-point on fibre of today.

The Sanskrit term ‘salakalekhya ‘ is used for that art of ancient India that corresponds to modern dry-point, and it was a very popular one too, being given an honoured place in the list of subjects of general study. Trivikrama talks of ‘salakalekhana’ as practised by even maidens. ³⁴ The ‘salaka,’ as the very name suggests, is a metal pin or fine rod with a pointed needle used to scratch lines over various surfaces including the surface of smooth walls. ⁴ But unfortunately, like the ‘patrakartari’ even the ‘salaka’ is merely known by name, the instrument itself having been lost by long disuse. Apart from bold free-hand drawing practised as a matter of course by all housewives and maidens of India, called by various names in various parts of the country as the ‘Rangoli’ in and around Bombay, as the ‘Alpana’ in Bengal and the ‘Kolam’ in South India, there has been in practice what can be called an art corresponding to modern stencilling. Plates of metal, especially of tin, with patterns of various designs marked by pin-holes through which white or coloured powders were allowed to pass through and settle on the ground, served as the household stencil plates of Indian homes. This is done even today with one or more colours in almost every part of our land.

Under the ‘sutra’ of Panini, ‘Nityam kridajivikayoh,’ we have the word ‘dantalekhana’ given as an example. The compound of ‘danta’ and ‘lekhaka’ is possible because the word denotes a profession. The ‘dantalekhana’ herein stated is taken to mean, as some hold it, a practice in old India of painting the teeth to beautify them. That meaning cannot be impossible since I have myself known cases of Oriyas blackening their teeth and screwing up gold flowers through holes bored through them for the purpose. Rajasekhara talks of the teeth of Bahlika women as red–probably, they were painted, since redness due to ‘tambula’ is common everywhere and no special country need be named for it.

Apart from this, ‘dantalekhana’ may be taken to mean painting on ivory, which art has been in existence in India from a very long time. Work in ivory has been going on in India for ages and the earliest date cannot be fixed. Dr. Vincent Smith has this passage in his History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon’ in which he gives what he considers the earliest reference to ivory work in India: ‘There can be no doubt that the art of carving ivory has been practised in India, the house of the elephant, for uncounted ages. For instance, the ancient drama "The Little Clay Cart," composed in the fifth century of the Christian era describes the entrance to Vasantasena’s mansion as shining "with its high ivory portal" (Act Four). But I am not in a position to mention a single extant ancient object in ivory of any importance. In modern times many localities are famous for their ivory carving.’ ⁵

It is most unfortunate that dates should be so cheap as to be adjusted according to our own pleasure. The date of Sudraka is generally accepted as prior to Kalidasa, and when some of the jealous late-date fixers persist in clinging to the fifth century A. D. in spite of Bhau Daji and Mr. Kshettresh-chandra Chattopadhyaya proving the date of the author of the ‘Raghuvamsa’ as the century before Christ, surely it cannot be conceived how Sudraka could be reckoned as having lived in the fifth century. Further, Dr. Smith forgets the ‘Ramayana’ which is, by far, older than the ancient book that he cites. The ‘Sundarakanda’ of the ‘Ramayana’ opens with a magnificent picture of Lanka with its mansions and palaces. Glowing descriptions of profuse ivory work are not wanting. ⁶⁷

He however quotes as an earlier evidence the inscription of the Sanchi tope. ‘Much earlier is the record at Sanchi of Circa 200 to 150 B. C. which informs us that one of the piers of the southern gate was not only dedicated but executed by the ivory carvers of Bhilsa. "The workers in ivory of Vidisa have done the carving." (Vedikehi dantakarehi rupakarumam katam). This implies that even at a date so early the carvers of ivory were organised as a guild (Sreni) Ep. Ind 2, pp 92, 378; Tope I, Inscr No. 200 C. 189.’ ⁷ How sad it is that the existence or non-existence of ivory carving in ancient India should hang by a thread as it were, on a solitary inscription and its accessibility to Dr. Smith!

Apart from carving in ivory there has been in vogue painting on ivory and this was developed to a high degree in the Mughal period. The medium being a very soft and delicate one, paintings executed on that surface were exquisitely nice and attractive. ‘Dantalekhana’ might therefore mean even this art of painting in colours on ivory plates.

Under the very ‘sutra’ of Panini quoted before, the ‘Kasika,’ an early commentary on the aphorisms, gives another example of a compound of two words meaning a profession, ‘Nakhalekhaka.’ ‘Nakhalekhana’ means drawing with the nail. That the nail was used as a ‘sringaranga’ for painting and drawing ‘makara’ and other patterns on the body according to the ‘patralekhana’ process, is a very well known fact, but there is also another type of nail work done on paper today known only to a very limited number of people. This work is done in the cameo method, and the figure is brought into relief by a dexterous working with the nails on the paper and appears like some embossed print. A fine example of this was executed by an artist friend of mine from Hyderabad, Mr. Pathak, a Maharashtra gentleman well versed in this art, when he tried to do my figure by nail work. ‘Nakhalekhana’ might have most probably meant this sort of work, since the drawing of ‘makara’ and other designs with ‘gorochana’ and ‘kasturi’on the body was usually known by a special name ‘patrabhangalekhana.’

The arts of India are not so few as to be exhausted in a short note like this; and it would indeed be preposterous if one were to attempt a detailed and exhaustive enumeration of all these. It has been however attempted to give a few of the most popular arts in old India that go to make up the ‘Vinodasthana’ of the gentlemen of the land, and practiced as a rule by one and all as a part of a liberal general education.

l Kanyaparijanastrinam dadarsa vihritikriyah

Kandukenatribhischarai ratnairapi cha shadvidhaih

Chitradushkaramargesu kridantiraparastriyah

Panchalikadikankeli patracchdyani chaparah

Durvachakani kurvantirashtadasavidhanyapi

Lipibhedamscha sindhvadin kaschinmlecchaksharani cha

Prahelikadika vachah parascha parichinvatih

Sangitagitavaditranyabhyasayantiranekasah

Tasminnavantisundarya dadarsa paricharikah

Avantisundarikatha

Cf. Bharatavisakhiladantilavrikshayurvedachitrasutreshu

Patracchedavidhane bhramakarmani pustasudasastreshu

Atodyavadanavidhau nritte gite cha kausalam tasyah

Kuttanimata

Malati is described as proficient in all these arts.

Cf. Also, Janan patracchedanamalekhyam sikthapustakarmani

Nrittam gitopachitam tantrimurajadivadyabhedamscha

Kuttanimata

Sundarasena knows all these arts.

Cf. Also, Anucharaniva naralakshanadini adheyavikrayani patracchedyadini.

Upamitibhavaprapanchakatha p. 206

Even an allegorical prince like Nandivardhana is proficient in all arts including patracchedana.

2 Patracchedamajanan janan va kausalam kalavishaye

Prakatayati janasamaje bibhranah patrakartarim satatam. Kuttanimata

The commentary says: - Patracchedanam nama kalaviseshah, yen a bhurja-

patradinam swabhiprayadyotanaya tattadakritya kartanam kriyate.

3 Kusala salakalekhyeshu.

Nalachampu, Page 87.

4 Yaissarvatra salakayevalikhitairdigbhittayaschitritah.

Nalachampu, Page 87, sl. 35.

5 History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, page 372.

6 Manisopanavikritam hemajalavirajitam

Sphatikairavritatalam dantantaritarupikam

Sundarakanda Can. 9 SI. 23

7History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, page 372.