Hand painted Plates Artisan exploring calligraphy

The small town of Khurja in Uttar Pradesh is known for its small ceramicware units. Glazing and painting floral surfaces on large vases and platters were techniques introduced by the Mughals, and moved from Rajasthan to other parts of the country. Since then, Khurja artisans have carried on a sometimes flourishing, sometimes sinking, trade in tableware, though without much design innovation. As most of the artisans are Urdu-speaking, they are able to grasp the aesthetics of calligraphy fairly easily.

Assisted by Qamar Dagar, a calligrapher from the eminent Dagar family who practise the dhrupad tradition of vocal classical music, Mohammad Arif played with Urdu letters and combined some with Devanagari to create new designs for Sultan Ahmad’s glazed tableware in shades of blue and earth brown.