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

Learn about the production process of making marble and inlaid products in Agra, India

Dastkari Haat Samiti

Dastkari Haat Samiti

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of AgraDastkari Haat Samiti

Agra is known for two stone craft traditions. The older of these is stone carving. It is done in stone of intermediate hardness. Soapstone is the preferred material. Sourced from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, it comes in various shades: grey, pink and yellow. Large soapstone blocks are cut and roughly shaped in factories on the outskirts of town. 

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

Transforming stone into a handmade artifact

Stone carving artisans of Agra produce intricately carved items. These are mostly in the form of small products that visitors and tourists can carry back with them. 

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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

Stone Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

An artisan cutting blocks of stone into smaller pieces using an electric cutting machine.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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

Stone Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

Observe here how the craftsman is shaping the piece of stone on the lathe machine. The stone is slowly taking a cup like shape.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02) by Narendar Kumar Verma, stone artisan from Agra and winner of UNESCO Seal of ExcellenceDastkari Haat Samiti

Stone Carving

The carving work is done by skilled artisans who reside within the city of Agra. Very basic tools are used to carve fine designs. The artisans have also mastered the art of carving out forms within forms – a technique locally known as ‘undercut’. Once used in large architectural applications, the stone carving of Agra is now mostly done on small products such as jewellery boxes, vases and lamps. Designs are mostly geometric or floral. 

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

A hand operated drill was also employed.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

The design was then filed manually.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

Jaali or fret work is often combined with surface engraving.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

Today, carving is mostly done with electric tools.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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.

Stone Inlay and Carving: artisan Narendar Verma at his factory (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Artisan Narendar Verma at his factory (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

Master craftsman Narendar Verma demonstrates how easy the soapstone is to shape, making it the preferred choice for stonecrafters of Agra.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02) by Anwar HandicraftDastkari Haat Samiti

Stone Inlay

The other stone craft of Agra is inlay work, popularly recognized as the craft of the Taj Mahal. This is usually done on white marble. Locally known as Pacchikari, this craft was introduced by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, who brought specialists from Persia to train local artisans. The best known of their work is seen even today in the pietra dura of the Taj Mahal. In fact, Agra’s inlay craftsmen claim descent from the craftsmen of that era.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

Inlay work too, was originally used in architecture. Here, designs of semi-precious stone such as lapis lazuli, turquoise, malachite, onyx, mother-of-pearl, cornelian, jasper, etc. are inlaid on a marble surface. The artisans make compositions of tiny hand cut pieces of semi-precious stone. The hues and shades are selected to give detail and depth to the pattern. The outline of the design is marked onto the surface to be inlaid, and the inlay area is shallow carved using a diamond tipped chisel. The design pieces are fixed into this area using an adhesive mixed with white cement. The design is fitted flush with the surface, leaving no visible gaps. 

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

A single motif usually combines different stones.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

It is a composition of tiny pieces put together.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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.

Stone Inlay: Craft of AgraDastkari Haat Samiti

Watch how the tiny pieces of semi-precious stones are put together, slowly and steadily, to form a beautiful flower.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

This gives the motif greater depth and detailing.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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.

Stone Inlay: Craft of AgraDastkari Haat Samiti

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

The design pieces are placed in this engraving.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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

Stone Inlay: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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.

Stone Inlay: Craft of Agra (2018-02)Dastkari Haat Samiti

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.

Stone Inlay and Carving: Craft of AgraDastkari Haat Samiti

Credits: Story

Text: Aloka Hiremath
Photography: Sunil Kumar
Artisans: Narendar Kumar Verma, Anwar Khan, Mohammad Rais, Vakiluddin and associates in the community
Ground Facilitator: Aloka Hiremath
Documentary Video: Sunil Kumar
Curation: Ruchira Verma

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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