Stone Crafts of Agra: How Carved and Inlaid Products are Made

The process begins at the stone cutting units on the outskirts of town.

Here, large blocks of stone are cut into smaller pieces using electric machines.

They are worked on further to approximate the size and form of the desired end product.

If the end product requires a round shape or needs to be hollowed out, this is achieved using an electric lathe.

Cut and shaped pieces of stone ready to be sent for carving.

Other cutting machines are used to slice slabs for products such as lattice or fret-work panels.

These various processes take place in small factories and workshops.

From here the stone pieces are sent for job work to units where artisans specialize in carving.

In the old days, all carving was done without the use of any kind of power tools. Artisans used a diamond tipped stylus to carve the surface of the object.

A hand operated drill was also employed.

The design was then filed manually.

Artisan holding up a product against the light to show jaali work.

Jaali or fret work is often combined with surface engraving.

Today, carving is mostly done with electric tools.

While they are powered with electricity, thus reducing the artisan’s exertion, these tools are still very basic.

They are mostly hand operated, and require skill to produce just the effect required.

Once the carving is done, the product is buffed on an emery wheel to smoothen its surfaces and edges.

The same turning machine is also used for polishing. The white and black lumps in the foreground are wax that is applied to the turning machine to give the stone object a polished finish.

Objects carved without electric tools require much more time and painstaking effort to make. Whichever be the method employed, it is the fineness of the design and finish that decides the value of a product.

Here, master artisan Narendar Verma explains how perfection demands the carving to be perpendicular to the surface of the product.

The starting point for inlay artisans is the marble item already in the shape of the end product. The plan of the design is traced on paper, and the outline and design markers are mapped onto the product in pencil or charcoal.

The design is made with the use of semi-precious stones: agate, turquoise, cornelian, jasper, onyx, mother-of-pearl, malachite, lapis lazuli. These come in the form of plates or shards that the artisans then cut to make their intricate designs.

A single motif usually combines different stones.

It is a composition of tiny pieces put together.

Each of these pieces is individually cut by hand on an electric turning wheel. While a trace or die cut may be used to map out the entire design or the outline of a large motif, no pattern or guide is used in cutting the individual bits of stone that go into making the motifs.

Even a tiny motif like a leaf may be made of different pieces.

This gives the motif greater depth and detailing.

A complete design can have hundreds of such pieces used together.

When the design elements for a product are ready, they are lightly stuck together using an adhesive, and placed on the surface of the object in their required positions. This surface has been coloured with red earth or a washable dye that helps the artisan mark out the area of the design.

The craftsman now marks out the design outline using a diamond tipped stylus. This engraving stands out in sharp contrast to the temporary colour that has been applied to the surface of the product.

The design pieces are removed from the surface of the object, and the outlined areas are shallow carved to a depth of a couple of millimetres. This carving needs to be precise and the outline crisp.

An adhesive mixture is used to fix the design in position. Traditionally, this mixture was made with natural ingredients according to a secret formula specific to the artisan’s family. Nowadays, this has mostly been replaced by chemical adhesive mixed with white cement procured from the market.

The adhesive is applied in the engraved area that has been prepared for the design.

The design pieces are placed in this engraving.

The skill of the craftsman lies in ensuring that the design is absolutely flush with the surface of the product, and no gaps are left.

The product is then buffed to obtain a smooth finish. The temporary colour washes off in the process.

Very basic tools are used to produce the delicate and intricate inlay designs.

The inlay workshop has various craftsmen working on different parts of the process. Each of them is specialized in different aspects that make this exquisite craft.

Each step of the process requires great skill along with an understanding of the nuances of the craft. Even the placement of the minute design pieces in their correct positions is a task no less than solving a complicated jigsaw puzzle.

Read more about the stunning stonecraft of Agra here:

- Stonecrafts of Agra: A historical legacy
- Handcrafted stone products of Agra