440 
J. HORNELL ON 
made by this saw finished off by filing ; when this groove is made in bangles where 
the outer face has in addition to be first ground to an obtuse circumferential angle, 
the worker in one factory visited was paid at the rate of Rs. 4 per 100 bangles for 
these two operations. 
The rest used by bangle carvers to support the working sections exhibits some 
variation in style according to locality. In Dacca a primitive-looking tripod of three 
thin sticks is employed, two short, the third long. The two former are lashed together 
in inverted V-form, in such way that a twisted bridge of string connects the two near 
the apex. Through the opening thus formed one extremity of a long stick is thrust 
to the extent required, thus providing a rough tripod with a short projecting arm at 
the apex. With the aid of this primitive implement, the carver, who squats at one 
side of it, has all the support he requires while sawing or filing patterns upon the 
bangle. 
In the northern districts of Eastern Bengal, bangle decorators commonly use a 
less makeshift-looking rest. In this the two short legs of the tripod are formed of a 
permanent A-shaped frame made of teak having two short thick legs and a small 
aperture bored through the upper solid part (fig. 8, pi. xiv). When in use one 
end of a bamboo rod, ij to 1^ inch in diameter, is thrust through the aperture in 
the wooden A-frame, thus forming the required tripod rest. The projecting end 
of the bamboo is whittled down till it is of suitable thickness to suit the workman’s taste. 
All remuneration is on the piecework system, with rates varying according to 
the difficulty and time required by each different pattern of bangle. A few examples 
will serve to show the wide range in rates. Thus the work of carving and polish- 
ing narrow; highly carved churis of the design figured in fig. G, plate xv, sold 
wholesale at Rs. 2-4 per set of six, is paid for at the rate of one rupee for the set, 
while the workmen receive only two rupees per 100 bangles when these are of the plain 
5-piece armlets made for Paliya women at Dinajpur. The monkey ’s-head pattern of 
bala bangle figured on plate xv (fig. C) is carved and ornamented with red and green 
lac at the rate of one rupee for three pairs. Red marriage bangles showing an incised 
pattern cost from four to five annas per pair to prepare, inclusive of the charges for 
grinding, engraving and lacquering. 
Eacquering. — In Bengal, owing to the custom prevailing there among Hindus 
which requires a bride to put on for the marriage ceremony two red- coloured chank- 
bangles, a considerable trade exists in lacquering and decorating bangles in this colour 
in the manner prevalent in each particular district. Besides these marriage bangles, 
sankhas as they are termed, a small amount of decorative lacquering in other colours 
is placed upon certain patterns of bala bangles, worn by better class Hindu women as 
ornaments and apart from their obligatory marriage sankhas. 
The lac employed is ordinary lac bought in the local bazaars where also the needful 
pigments are obtained. 
The preparation of the coloured lac is done by the workpeople themselves in 
many workshops, and I was fortunately able on one occasion to be present during 
the making of a stick of red lac such as is used in colouring red sankhas. For the 
