Museum of Meenakari Heritage: Jaipur’s newest gem

Is there a better time than holi to launch a new jewelery museum? Not if you are in jaipur, where the country’s annual celebration of spring is celebrated by the City’s Royals with Bonfires, Singing, Feasting and a lot of color. And not when the museum is dedicated to ‘Meenakari’, an ancient enameling technique brough to India 500 years ago by the Portuguese.

Under the Guidance of Trailblazer Sunita Shekhawat, Whoose Eponymous Jewelry Brand Owns The Museum of Meenakari Heritage (Momh), The Color Palette of This Jewelery Technique has in the Last Decade Blazed past the usual 20-25 shades to about 360. “Variation in temperature during the”firing“Gives vitreous Enamel its final visual appearance and defines its color. It is a laborious process. As you become successful, you get the confidence to experience, “Says Sunita, 60, the only woman in her gemology class in jaipur when she signed up decades ago. Most successful jewelery designers and is haled as the “modern meenakaar ‘of India.

Museum of Meenakari Heritage, Jaipur | Photo Credit: Ishita Sitwala

The Walkthrough

At the 2,200 sq.ft museum, part of a red sandstone havel designed by studio lotus that also include include in the basement and a management floor, you embark on a jewelery in the 15th^th Century, meticulously curved by art and jewelry historyian Usha R. Balakrishnan. Designed by Siddhartha Das Studio, The Museum Shows to Advantage Over 300 Images Sourced from Museums and Private Collections and About 120 Reproductions of Indian Jewelry Pieces that ARE NOW in International Institutions such as the British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum.

Sunita Shekhawat | Photo Credit: Kewal Chholak

“The Role of a Curator is to present a narrative, drawing upon images and objects. The historical reproductions we have done for the museum might be considered modern today, but will be history in the future!”Usha BalakrishnanCurator

“Enameling is not a jewelery manufacturing technique that is indigenous to India. Enameling in europe at the time, and its impact on India, which was the center of gem trading in the world. She highlights how goan jewellers were sent to Portugal to Learn Jewelery Setting Techniques, and that Raw Materials Came Here from Europe, Especially the Vitreous Glass from MUNICE. At the time, jewelery was being enamelled in the front and back in europe. But as gemstones Were batcoming popular, Soon Enameling Got related to the back of the pieces.

Usha R. Balakrishnan | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

At this Cultural Space, visitors can by appointment also brush up on their meenakari vocabulary, be it colors like Fakhtahi or dove green blue or Koon-e-kabouter (literally “Pigeon Blood”), a translucent red colored enamel that can be a challenge to create, say Sunita. Techniques range from Ab-e-lhrA gold base asymmetrically chased and engraved in the form of waves, to Boond TilaThe Chased and Engraved Gold Base With Translucent Enameling. As for the images, Balakrishnan says it took close to two years to get permissions of the covid shutdown of museums Around the World.

One of Four

For a country knowledge for its jewelery heritage, India has less museums dedicated to it. Momh joins the jewelery gallery in the CSMVS Museum, Mumbai, also Curated by Balakrishnan, and the Amrapali Museum and Gyan Museum in Jaipur. “The biggest challenge for a curator is to tell the story in a manner that is clear, concise and accessible to all,” Says Balakrishnan. That she has successed is evident at the launch, as jewelery aphicionados linger over each display case. The panel of florals used in meenakari is especially memorable as it lists seven of the most common blooms, from the lotus to the oleander, sourced from the dara shikoh album of miniatures British Library, London and Matched with Both Images of Jewelery and Reproductions.

Museum of Meenakari Heritage | Photo Credit: Ishita Sitwala

“The history of meenakari in India, spanning more than 500 years, is a complex history of global connections, influences, transfer of technology, reinterpretation and indigenization,” Says Balakrishnan, command Craftsmen at the Sunita Shekhawat Atelier. Her Personal Favourites at Momh are the European Horse and the Sarpech, which are “outstanding testimonies of the genius of India’s artisanal skills”.

Meanwhile, Sunita, Who is Ably Supported by Her Family at Work – Her Daughter Niharika and Son Digvijay Take Care of Logistics and Sourcing, Respectly – Says the NEST STEP ATPES Gallery is to Organise an audio guide. As not everyone will be lucky to get a walkthrough by Balakrishnan! “It would be fantastic to have naseeruddin shah,” pipes in Niharika. Anything is possible.

Published – March 27, 2024 08:14 pm IST