Blackstone Nut Bowl - Rectangular Shaped

Details

Give your home interiors a touch of class with this sophisticated Blackstone Nut Bowl Rectangular Shaped from goroots. It is hand-thrown with great diligence and traditional Longpi Ham skills. The black pottery artefact is one that can act as a beautiful substitute to your steel and melamine kitchenware. Also, it is healthy and eco-friendly as well as being microwave and dish-wash friendly. The design is perfect for use on special occasions. Its through dark vintage body is complemented by pale cane strings wound along either sides on the rim. The bowl can be carried easily and served down with style. On the dining table or centre table, serve dry fruits and nuts to your guests in this exquisitely handmade Blackstone pottery artefact and give your tableware a certain touch of elegance and sophistication.

About Blackstone Pottery

Blackstone or Longpi Ham pottery dates back to those ancient times when the utensils and cookware were used by prominent royal families in India, during religious ceremonies and festivities. Hence, also referred to as royal pottery, the art of Blackstone pottery is regal in its own sense. Blackstone Pottery is consists of a mixture of crushed Serpentine rock and weather rock used in the ratio 3:1. The artefacts derived from Blackstone are not only used as cookware and serveware but also as decorative pieces of art. The art is a symbol of devotion of the Thankul Naga tribes of the Ukhrul district of Manipur who accomplish and respect this form of pottery as a devotion to Goddess Panthobi and Nongpok Ningthou, equivalents of Goddess Durga and Lord Shiva respectively. 

Procedure

Around 200 men and women artisans the Thankul Naga tribes, who are the inhabitants of the Longpi village of the Ukhrul district of Manipur, ply the craft of Blackstone earthenware with their rich untamed skills. The remarkable feature of Blackstone pottery is that artisans do not resort to the potters wheel, instead, they use out of the ordinary the coiling method in order to achieve the desired shape and size of the artefact they have in their mind. To begin with, the artists crush the Serpentine rock and weathered rocks in the ratio 3:1, along with a certain proportion of clay, water and soil.

The crushed rocks are mixed adequately to form a mixture which is later shaped by the use of hands. The final shape of the artefact wholly depends on the skills and techniques the craftsmen put to use.   The faded brownish-black colour and the smoke stains are a result of intensely heating up the artefact to as high as 900 degrees centigrade. Finally, the traditional Handi pots are baked on straw and cow-dung and polished with beeswax and a special leaf called Chirona.

Region

The art of Blackstone pottery exclusively belongs to the Ukhrul district in the north-eastern state of Manipur. The Thankul Naga tribes are the inhabitants of the Longpi village, which is situated in Ukhrul. The district is about 85kms eastward to Imphal, the capital of Manipur.

goroots provides a concrete backing to the Black Pottery craftsmen situated in the remote interiors of Manipur. We encourage the ability of the tribal handicraft artisans and genuinely support their efforts through our website.