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Bones & Horns:

Recent development in the field of handicraft products in Nepal is the use of animal horns and
bones to make a range of buttons, hair ornaments, jewelry, and decorative figures.

Bone and Horn crafts are made after the death of an animal. After the death of the animal,
what remained out of its decomposed body was a carcass of bone intact and untouched by the
atmospheric vagaries. This was probably the first encounter of man with bones. Overwhelmed
by its intricate design, aesthetic and design his journey into the wondrous world of bone art
began.

Horn is a raw material that is available almost everywhere. However, the crafting of the
products is mainly carried out in the Kathmandu Valley. Horn is a versatile raw material and
the artisans have shown a keen sensitivity to the material by using its diverse grains and
colour variations to great advantage. When heated and oiled, horn becomes soft and pliable
and the artisan can then mould and shape the horn into the required shape. The grain of the
material and the variations in colours are used to create - naturally subtle effects while
crafting the product.