Bowl

Decorated in a Chinar leaf pattern with foliage and birds in gold on a deep red background, this bowl is one of the highlights of the Museum’s exquisite papier-mache collection from Kashmir. The Chinar leaf is a five-pointed leaf from a tree of the same name that is ubiquitous in the Kashmiri landscape and is a popular ornamental motifs in traditional crafts of Kashmir. Chinar trees were also planted in the celebrated Mughal gardens of Kashmir.

Papier-mache is the technique of creating objects using paper pieces or paper pulp moulded in the desired shape and bound with an adhesive. This delicate decorative art was introduced to Kashmir from Samarkand in Central Asia, in the 15th century A.D. In the Kashmir style of papier-mache, the paper is never completely beaten into pulp; it is softened with water and then pasted in a mould layer by layer to achieve the desired thickness. Kashmiri papier mache is characteristic of the art of naqashi or the painting of various floral, geometrical and figurative designs and patterns on the various items, covered with lacquer.