^ 



r 



■-- 



> ^ « 



'\. 



* 





- ^ ri 



( 



:* J' 



I 



■V. i 



- 1 



J ^ -^ 



^' ■" 



-■ ^ 



S 



^ ^^ 



-» * . ^ -1 ^ ^< J 



^ , .,.A3 , y^^o^'j. 



'io 



^ ; 



h J 



57. Note on the Bidri ware of Ptirrieah: 





1 > 



i - 1 ^ ' i* V 



/ ■ 



^1 



-J 





By R. J. Hirst, 



}jii . 



n:U 





' J 



iw — _ 



^ > 



* * i w , 



n 



■■ ' 



■■;i:-: 



The manufacture of this ware is described in detail in Sir 



W. W. Hunter's ''Statistical Account of Purneah," and briefly 



^noticed in Dr. Birdwood's " Indian Arta.'" The following note 



will be found to contain some supplementary information. • 



! *(\ 



V 



, 1 



In Purneah the word " Bider " is applied to the amalgum of 

 zinc (dasta) and copper {tamha)y which is employed in the manpiac- 

 t are of this ware. Tin, which, according to Dr. Bird wood, forms 

 one of the ingredients, is no longer used. The metals are melted, 

 riiixed, cast into the required shape, and finally turned on a very 

 primitive lathe, by men of the Kanseri caste. There are only 

 three Kanseris in the whole district now employed in this work, 

 two of whom live at Belauri, a village about two miles south of 

 Purneah Railway Station, and the other at Katihar.- The cast 

 -most commonly takes the form of a hookah-stand, but Serahis, 

 Serposhes, etc., are made to order. - > . .' 



The manufactured Bider is sold to the damascene workers of 

 Purneah Town and Kasba at the rate of Re. 1-4 per seer. '• The 

 metal is then slightly darkened with sulphate of copper (fuiz'a). 

 and the design traced with an instrument resembling a sharpened 

 nail. Rough compasses are also used. Mistakes in the design can 

 ^e readily effaced with water, and a second application of the 

 Sulphate of copper ; but such mistakes are rare, and Mohan Sonar, 

 who is the principal designer, works very quickly and unerringly. 

 There are two other designers, but they confine themselves to 

 certain unvarying patterns. 



The edges of the leaves, petals, etc., which form the design, 

 are then sharply defined with a small chisel. Silver leaf is cut up 

 into small pieces, which are roughly shaped to fit the details of 

 the design, and then fixed in position, the instruments employed 

 being a hammer and a blunted nail which is used as :a" punch. 

 The silver leaf breaks off when it comes in contact with the 

 edges left by the chisel, and leaves the details of the pattern well 

 defined. Very little subsequent trimming is necessary. The leaf 

 is now firmly embedded in, and appears to form part of, the Bider. 

 No adhesive of any kind is employed; 



This appears to be a comparatively simple operation, the 

 skilled touch manifesting itself in the. engraving with the chisel 

 ra.ther than in the actual inlaying. 



* » 



' ^ 



The number of artizans employed in the engraving" and inlay- 

 ing processes, including the three designers mentioned above, who 

 ■ 9^30 perform the operations subsequent to designing, is seyen. 

 ^^7::..The article is next smoothed and polished ..on artW^Jigel 

 ^(charak). The ground-work is then darkened with a paste fpjjgped 



