104 IVORY AND THE ELEPHANT 



is another instance of the curious tendency of Indian crafts 

 to be locahzed in out-of-the-way places in a way that is not 

 easily accounted for. There are at Pali whole streets of 

 ivory bangle- turners. Their wares are produced in sets of 

 graduated sizes, covering the arm from the shoulder to the 

 wrist, with an interval for the elbow, and they are worn 

 almost universally in the Western Rajput States." 



Ivory is a favourite material for inlays on wood in India, 

 and much of the work done in this style merits praise. The 

 chief centre of this branch of art at the present time is the 

 Panjab, notably at Hushiarpur, where a great variety of 

 household articles are so decorated, such as the small square 

 wooden seats, called chautis, almirahs (cupboards of a special 

 type), wall-brackets, tables, chairs, boxes, desks, rulers, 

 picture-frames, cabinets, etc. The production of each of 

 these objects usually requires the combined efforts of several 

 workmen. Sometimes the ivory inlay is thrown into sharper 

 relief by a bordering of blackened wood. Most of those 

 engaged in this work live in the village of Ghulam Husain 

 Bassi, in the immediate neighbourhood of Hushiarpur. This 

 industry, which is recently revived, is now in a flourishing 

 condition.* 



These objects are comparatively inexpensive as shown by 

 the following prices: A table 45 rupees ($15), a wall-bracket 

 15 rupees ($3), a picture-frame 6 rupees ($2), a wall-shelf 

 35 rupees ($12), a box 25 rupees ($8 or $9).t 



In Rajputana, the town of Etawa, in the district of Kota, 

 is to some extent a rival of Hushiarpur. Here shisham-wood 

 is that principally used to receive the inlays, a fine specimen 

 being a screen shown at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition. 

 An interesting fact is that the industry in Kota is exclusively 

 carried on by the members of two or three families of the 



*T. N. Mukharji, "Art Manufactures of India," Calcutta, 1888, p. 245. 

 tibid., p. 247. 



