Beer Mug Blackstone - Medium (Set Of 2)

Add a touch of sophistication to your drinks and barware with the medium Blackstone Beer Mug from goroots. The artistic relic is a classy example of Longpi pottery and brings back the rustic look and feel from the interiors of Manipur, where the art of Longpi pottery flourishes. The mug styles up your drinking experience as it features a vintage design with a shiny brownish-black tone and sturdy rattan streaks running around the handle of the mug. And, it can thus prove to be a great gift idea for cocktail and pint lovers who wish to enjoy their drinks in a remarkably unique way.

About Blackstone Pottery

Beer Mug - Blackstone Medium is a spectacular handicraft derived from Blackstone pottery that 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.

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.

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.

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 brownish-black colour and the smoke stains are a result of intensely treating the artefact to high temperatures as much as 900 degree Celsius.

The Longpi artists finally bake the mug artefact on straw and cow-dung. They later polish it with beeswax and Chirona, a special leaf found in the local regions of Manipur.

After the artefact has been heated and final touches being given, it is later decorated by coiling rattan or wicker strips to the handle of the mug.

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.