Flower Vase - Bidri Star Work

Details

Flower vases come in various shapes and sizes. Again, vases can be categorized into contemporary and vintage designs. This one however is a brilliant mix of a vintage make and contemporary designs. The Flower Vase Bidri Star work is an artistic piece of home decor that can brilliantly beautify the look and feel of its surroundings.

Skilfully handcrafted using the traditional Bidri metal handicraft techniques, this unique vase features an intriguing pattern of host of stars that appear to be gleaming on the dark-tinted backdrop of this vase. The minute inlay detailing has been finished with pure silver, which is why the design appeals to the eye to greater extents.

With a smooth finish and stunning appearance, let this vase hold host of beautiful flowers and in turn enhance the beauty of your tabletops in the living room, bedroom or kitchen shelf.

About Bidri Art

The Bidri Art is identified as one of the most popular metal handicrafts that originated in Bidar region of Karnataka. It was first introduced during the rule of the Bahamani Sultans in around 14th century C.E. The township of Bidar lends the art its name Bidriware and it is still a prominent centre for crafting intriguing metallic products.

The handmade Bidri products are valued as a symbol of wealth. The metal used in Bidri products is a blackened alloy copper and zinc inlaid with fine sheets of pure silver metal. The fine motifs and the wirework with which Bidriware is laced, gives the products a unique definition altogether. Moreover, Bidri handicraft products are in great demand in the export market due to its gorgeous inlay work.

Procedure

Unique Bidriware products are handcrafted from an alloy of copper and zinc by casting in the ratio 1:16. While the zinc content gives the alloy a rich jet black colour, copper provides it with a noticeable lustre and robustness.

A mould of soil is made malleable by adding resin and castor oil. After the molten metal has been poured into this mould, the cast piece is smoothened by filing for a shiny look and feel. This casting is coated with a concentrated solution of copper sulphate that provides it with a temporary black coating on which the designs are etched freehand.

The designs are usually the typical poppy flowers and vine creepers, stars and Ashrafi-ki-booti. Some may also feature traditional motifs in the form of Arabic script or the Persian Rose.

The casting is then securely placed in a clamp to engrave it with intricate motifs using small chisels. Its grooves are then carefully hammered with flattened strips of pure silver metal or fine wires for a desired look  

Before the Bidriware artefact could be sold out in the market it is filed, chiselled, polished and smoothened to remove deformities caused due to the black coating. This process results in a strikingly noticeable silver inlay shining on a dark metallic background.

Region

The art of Bidri handicraft is widely practised in Bidar, Karnataka as well as in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Purnia in Bihar, Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh and Murshidabad in West Bengal are few of the other regions of the country that produce excellent Bidri products.