WOOD CRAFT

GUJARAT
• One of the richest regions for wood-carving is GUJARAT.
• The cantilevered balconies of palaces in Palanpur and Bhuj have been beautifully
carved.
• The majestic doors of traditional houses or havelis are artistic masterpieces with images of the
goddess Lakshmi or the elephant deity Ganesh carved in the central portion of the archway.
• The wood-carvers in Gujarat make extensive use of the parrot motif to highlight architectural features and ornament lid handles, door brackets,
edges and corners of chests.
• Large-sized chests called pataras, from Bhavnagar in Saurashtra, is a part of the bridal trousseau, fashioned to hold bed rolls, jewellery,
documents, oil and grain.
• Soothing colours and designs in the tin foil style are used in making furniture in Sankheda which is noted for its low seats, tables, stools & swings.
• The wood-carver community of Gujarat, known as the mewara mistris, work in rural and urban areas.
• Wood inlay work of Surat is also famous and involves placing of pieces of ivory, plastic, horn, bone, metal, and fine wires into carved surfaces.
• The wood on which inlay work is done include teak rose wood, or sandalwood.
 Building

Utility

Ornamentation

Wooden Craft in Gujarat

 BUILDING PURPOSE UTILITY PURPOSE ORNAMENTATION PURPOSE

1- Tambekar Wada In Vadodara Sankheda Colourful Wooden Furniture Architectural Wood Carving In
& Lacquerware Saurashtra

2- Bohra Haveli In Sidhpur Sadeli Architectural Wood Carving In Kutch

3- Gopaldas Haveli, Vaso Jasdan

4- Swaminarayan Haveli Temple In Meenakari Style Painted Furniture

Ahmedabad

Kutch Lacquer Craft Wooden Spoons &

Ladles
 Wood as a Building Material
HAVELIS IN GUJARAT
• Havelis belongs to more of domestic realms, unlike palaces, & forts that enjoy the
monumental status.
• The ground floor of the Haveli is completely a private area, whereas the first floor
has different entrance and luxurious interiors, & was meant for doing business &
entertaining guest.
• WOOD is used in abundance. The use of wood in architecture was a matter of prestige but the scale and extent of carving
within the given home were ultimately dependent on affordability.
• The excessive use of wood in columns, brackets, frontage and courtyards.
• The woodwork in the Havelis of the Gujarat is coated with black preservative oil that gives it a dark appearance.
• Tambekar Wada in Vadodara, Bohra Haveli in Siddhpur, Darbar Gopaldas Haveli in Kheda district and
Swaminarayan Haveli Temple in Ahmedabad are an absolute treat for eyes.
 CASE STUDIES ARCHITECTURAL MATERIAL ORNAMENTATION FINISHES
ELEMENTS TYPE
Case study 1 – • Wooden window  Locally sourced • Paintings, frescos & murals decorate Painted
Tambekar Wada In • Handmade wooden materials and the walls, doors, & ceiling.
Vadodara jaali  with a heavy • Painted depicting characters and
influence of the stories from Indian mythology –
local Mahabharata, discussions with the
architecture.  Britishers, festivals, culture, war
scenes, fight sequence.

Case study 2 – Houses in Sidhpur have a Locally sourced • The most traditional wooden Painted in bright
Bohra Haveli strong European materials balconies are decorated with exotic colours
In Sidhpur character with gabled overhanging window seats called
roofs, ornate balconies, jharukho.
pilasters, columns & • The brackets in the temples are
decorated doors & beautifully carved.
windows. 
Case study 3- • Wooden jaalis The ceiling of the • Artwork made from wood. Fesko painting
Gopaldas Haveli, • Windows mansion is made • wooden peeler and carving made using
Vaso • Railings of seam wood natural colors
• brackets used to be highly
valued.

Case study 4 – • Wooden jaalis Unique Wooden carvings

Swaminarayan • Windows vernacular form
Haveli Temple In • Railings of design
Ahmedabad • Brackets
• arches
TAMBEKAR WADA IN VADODARA BOHRA HAVELI IN SIDHPUR

interiors wooden balconies 

GOPALDAS HAVELI, VASO SWAMINARAYAN HAVELI TEMPLE,

AHMEDABAD

wooden window 

Handmade wooden jaali 

ceiling
 Wooden Architectural Elements
Elements Description
Balcony (Jharukho) The set of four columns along with cusped arches would be originally a pert of
balcony supporting the roof or a above floor balcony.

Arch (Toran) The triple arch opening would be a part of an inner courtyard of a traditional wooden
house. The three arches are similar in their form & style of carving except the
dimensions; the inner being more elongated.

Window (Baharni Balcony-windows are part of the front façade of traditional wooden houses of
Bari) northern or central part of Gujarat. Inspired from jharokha. The projection & low
parapet allowed residents of the house to sit outside & interact with people in the
street.

Arch (Toran) The arch is composed within a wooden panelled frame carved with geometric and
floral pattern.

Column (Stambh) Wooden columns are in three parts – Capital, shaft and the base. The capital & shaft
are made of wood while the base is of stone.

Window - metal grill This window is usually found on the ground floor of a traditional wooden house. The
(Bari) metal bars provide security & allow the ventilation within the house. The window is
ornamented carved with high and low relief carving on the frame and panels.

Ceiling Wooden ceiling is exquisite in terms of its ornamentation style and method. It is
carved & painted with multiple motifs & patterns in various colours.

Bracket (Madal) Wooden brackets are part of a façade column system to support the upper floor or
upper balcony. The bracket is prodigiously carved in sculpturesque & relief technique.
Brackets are adorned with innumerable motifs, patterns & finite designs.

Façade (Ravesh) The façade of a typical wooden house shows windows with wooden panels,
entablature with curved baluster panels on the beam supported
 Wood craft – Utility
SANKHEDA COLOURFUL WOODEN FURNITURE & LACQUERWARE
Description

Origin Vadodara district is well-known for its colourful wooden furniture (1800’s)

Ornamentation Hand painted motifs and traditional method of ornamentation

Artisan community Kharadi suthars

Material Teak wood

Tools (process) Hand-held tools, lathes, & simple machinery

Finishes Lacquer and painted in traditional bright shades of maroon and gold. In recent years, colour
innovations have been adopted with black, blue, green, ivory, copper, silver & burgundy
shades.
• They are mostly bright and shiny colors for outer finishes.
• A very skillful craftsmanship need to make this shiny colour.
• They use …. POWDER COLOR + HIGH GLOSS LIQUID + MELAMINE + THINNER
After that, They make glossy lamination coat for long lasting shiny finish

Furniture types Three piece settees, headboards, beds, garden swings, dressing tables, rocking chairs, tables,
screens, divan, etc. Modern furnitures or items wall-hangings, pedestal-lamps, flower-vases,
pen-stands, toys, kitchen-ware, and support for hammocks

Joinery • They use simple tongue and groove joinery for joining parts with each other.
• They nail it from opposite side of the groove.
• This joinery is called saaling in their local language.
• They use this kind of joinery so that it can be joint or detached easily.
PROCESS –
• To begin with, the Suthars turn blocks of wood on lathes.
• Then they shave and smooth it to achieve the characteristic rounded shapes.
• Next, each piece is painted by hand in colours like maroon, vermilion, green and brown, often picked
out with gold or silver, & floral patterns, peacock motifs & abstract drawings to delicate lacelike forms.
• A brush made from very fine squirrel’s hair is typically used for painting. After painting, the pieces are coated with lacquer.
• Finally, the pieces are drilled to create space for tongue and groove or other forms of joinery required to fit and turn them
into pieces of furniture.
Craft Item Origin Definition Material & Technique Examples
Sadeli Come through It is a form of marquetry Fabricate intricate Bombay Box--a
Parsis from that showcases the art of geometric or floral patterns tourist favourite-
Iran. decorating the surface of on teak or other locally Sadeli handicraft.
wooden articles with available wood.
Famous in delicate pieces of wood Sofa sets, book racks
Surat and other materials in and lamp holders. 
precisely cut geometrical
shapes.
Meenakari Famous in It is a meenakari styled Traditionally handcrafted, Jewellery boxes,
style painted Rajkot painted furniture on now mechanisation has furniture, & utensils
furniture which meenakari been introduced. made from silver.
decoration work is done.
Jasdan Embellished Wooden - Teak wood is used. Jewellery boxes,
Chests & Boxes - Traditionally covered with furniture, chowki
brass & copper, now white
A patara is typically metal is being increasingly
made of teak wood & used in their making.
contains eight or more - The box is strengthened
drawers. with thick black metal
pieces and decorated with
thin pieces of white metal,
embossed on the wood.
- The chests are lined with
brass strips and brass
stoppers are fixed.
 Craft Item Origin Definition
Kutch lacquer Vadodara district is • A truly unique and
craft wooden well-known for its beautiful set that is
spoons & ladles colourful wooden extremely durable and
craft hardy.
• This beautiful craft form is
unique and distinctive with
its characteristic
kaleidoscopic, zig zag
patterns that emerge as
coloured lacquer is applied
to wood with heat.
Process
Material & Technique Examples
• The craft is practiced using simple tools like a Spoons, Toys, ladles,
self made lathe, a string attached to a bow, and dandiya
sticks of coloured lac.
• The process begins with crafting the raw wood
into the desired product after which, artisans
apply lac on the wood while it is being turned
on the lathe.
• The heat generated makes the lacquer melt due
to the constant friction and allows it to stick to
the surface of the wood.
• Finally the piece is given a glossy polish with oil.
• Wood used is Babul wood.
• Traditionally, the lacquer was coloured with
vegetable dyes. Now artisans use brightly
coloured chemical dyes.
Examples
Wood Carving
There are six types of carving techniques employed by the Indian woodcarver, when
Wood craft - Ornamentation
dealing with ornamentation on wooden architecture.
Name of carving Description
Chip carving The most simple and basic, it is the oldest technique where the form of carving is
merely achieved by chisel and mallet.
Relief carving technique With the use of basic tools, the unwanted portion of design is chiseled out. This
type of an expression is one of the most prominent features of the facades of the
wooden houses of Gujarat.

Undercutting carving Produced much bolder forms by cutting away the wood that lies under the surface
technique  to a greater or lesser extent within the limits of design. As a result, shadows are
formed, making that surface (ground) dark and more distinct, highlighting the
design. Application of this technique can be observed mainly on the brackets,
column capitals, beam ends, and many of the furniture pieces.

Incised carving carving a design without any ground work by using ‘v’ parting tool. The technique
is used for making veins in the leaves or outlining the design work by grooving.
This technique is much prevalent in the interior elements & furniture.

Sculpturesque carving It is applied to the carving of a three dimensional element, free from the ground.
technique  The interior-architecture elements like brackets, struts, interior elements and
furniture pieces are carved in round with numerous projections like concave and
convex surfaces to achieve any desirable form.

Pierced carving technique  It has been known for centuries as the most effective form of ornamentation.
Wood was sawed and chiselled out between the designs and then filed. This
technique is used for making pierced jalis(trellis), interior doors, fixed facade
windows and partition screens.
 Architectural wood carving
• Ornamentation observed on these houses belongs to natural, figural and geometric type.
• The facade of the Hindu houses of Gujarat show a very high end style of figural motifs, where subjects like peacock,
parrot, elephants and religious figures are much popular. The narrative figures depicting the stories of gods and
goddess was largerly observed in the haveli mandir and the temples of Gujarat.
• The muslim dwellings mainly represented the floral and geometric types of motifs and pattern.
• One of the interesting subject of carving observed in all these regions is the mythical creature.

Place Description
SAURASHTRA • Architecture elements, furniture, blocks for textile printing have been the most common use of
woodcraft in Gujarat.
• Most traditional brackets called jharukhos, have intricate work of wood carving.
• Both floral and geometrical motifs are used on various elements of the wooden pillars, ceilings,
etc.
KUTCH • Kutch is famous for its wood carving skills across India.
• Backrests and frames of charpoys & chairs are combined with colourful lathe turned legs.
• Shallow relief carved patterns are often floral and geometric such a the quarter foil and six
petalled flowers.
• Tools such as chisels, hammers, saws and hand turned lathes etc. are used for crafting process.
• Products such as cots, cupboards, hand fans, wooden columns, pillars, brackets etc. are created.
LODIYA • Use locally available wood and carving is done with variety of chisels.
VILLAGE • They carve beautiful geometric motifs of leaves and flowers on wooden planks.
• The motifs have symmetry and balance in designs which make them look more appealing.
• Process - Wooden piece with desired dimensions is cut – after cutting, the rough ends of the
piece are smoothened – after the base is ready to be worked on, a border is made with the
corner line tool – border design is made with a small size chisel – the design is carved according
to the pattern or motif with the help of different sized chisels and hammer.
Thanks