Green dolls [eco-friendly dolls ]lose battle to chemical ones
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Vilacherry
MADURAI: Christmas is a busy time for doll makers of Vilacherry,
a village 10km from Madurai. Business is good, they admit. But what
concerns them is the eco-friendly dolls that they craft with clay and
paint with water colour is slowly losing the market to enamel-painted
dolls made with plaster of paris.
They blame customers who buy them to decorate Christmas cribs, for this shift in trend. So, why have clay dolls fallen out of favour with customers though they are less expensive than the plaster of paris makes? Blame the trend on looks.
Plaster of paris dolls enhanced with enamel paint have gloss that make them stand apart. The clay-made dolls are less shiny. Although the former costs thrice the price of clay-made dolls, people prefer to buy the plaster-of-paris dolls, said M Ramalingam, a doll maker. "We have no other option but to produce what the customer wants. We know clay dolls are eco-friendly," he said.
Moreover, applying water colour is a tedious process, which requires additional labour. The raw material for the colour has to be bought, crushed, mixed with zinc and filtered. There are only limited colours available with the water paints, whereas enamel paints are available in ready-to-apply form.
There is no cost difference between the two colours, Ramalingam said. There are over 150 families in the village involved in doll-making. "There were only clay doll manufacturing units in the village before 2000. Now, more than 50% of our products are made of plaster of paris.
We started to use plaster of paris extensively after 2006, since it was widely preferred by customers," said G Thangaraman, who has been making dolls for the past four decades. The unavailability of quality clay is another reason. The shortage of rainfall has affected the quality of the clay. Quality clay can be obtained only if water stagnates in tank for at least eight months, he said.
The time and labour required for clay doll making is high, since clay should be mixed with alluvial soil and sand in a certain proportion to get the perfect flexibility. It requires a week's time under the sun, but only 10 minutes is needed to make plaster-of-paris dolls, he added. 90% dolls manufactured in the village are sent to Erankulam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode in Kerala, whereas only 10% are sent to various parts of TN.
They blame customers who buy them to decorate Christmas cribs, for this shift in trend. So, why have clay dolls fallen out of favour with customers though they are less expensive than the plaster of paris makes? Blame the trend on looks.
Plaster of paris dolls enhanced with enamel paint have gloss that make them stand apart. The clay-made dolls are less shiny. Although the former costs thrice the price of clay-made dolls, people prefer to buy the plaster-of-paris dolls, said M Ramalingam, a doll maker. "We have no other option but to produce what the customer wants. We know clay dolls are eco-friendly," he said.
Moreover, applying water colour is a tedious process, which requires additional labour. The raw material for the colour has to be bought, crushed, mixed with zinc and filtered. There are only limited colours available with the water paints, whereas enamel paints are available in ready-to-apply form.
There is no cost difference between the two colours, Ramalingam said. There are over 150 families in the village involved in doll-making. "There were only clay doll manufacturing units in the village before 2000. Now, more than 50% of our products are made of plaster of paris.
We started to use plaster of paris extensively after 2006, since it was widely preferred by customers," said G Thangaraman, who has been making dolls for the past four decades. The unavailability of quality clay is another reason. The shortage of rainfall has affected the quality of the clay. Quality clay can be obtained only if water stagnates in tank for at least eight months, he said.
The time and labour required for clay doll making is high, since clay should be mixed with alluvial soil and sand in a certain proportion to get the perfect flexibility. It requires a week's time under the sun, but only 10 minutes is needed to make plaster-of-paris dolls, he added. 90% dolls manufactured in the village are sent to Erankulam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode in Kerala, whereas only 10% are sent to various parts of TN.
Celebrating hand made clay dolls
by iniyaal
Kolu is an age old tradition of South India that celebrates the heritage of hand made clay dolls. Clay dolls are made by artisan families working on this art for generations. Steel wires are used to form the basic shape of dolls. Clay is plastered over this by hand and fine details are then sculpted on it. They are coloured with bright and cheerful paints. Each doll is designed, created and painted by hand with utmost precision.
chettiar dolls
Traditional doll making families are scattered all over South India.
They are engaged in clay doll making through out the year. These dolls
are stacked away for a year awaiting the Navaratri season. Doll
makers open shop for the three months from August to November, the
festival season in India.
Various techniques and innovations keep springing up every year. The wedding procession above is one such interesting set. Notice the antique looking car in this set? The latest trend this year are modern gadgets like cars.
The indigenous design and talent of doll makers are amazing. Have a look at the interesting doll set below - represents a scene from the Ramayana – Hanuman carrying the Sanjevi mountain. Though the set appears to be one single doll, it consists of six individual pieces that can be assembled in to one set. The attachment of various pieces is by an amazing design involving simple steel wire projections and holes, V shaped joins, flat pedestals etc.
This set can be dismantled into individual pieces and stored away safely. Notice the tree in below picture, a thin line running in the middle is the part where it has been joined. Talented and creative designs, from traditional artisans who have preserved this art over generations.
Kolu Steps
Decoration of the steps are done with sarees or decorative cloth. Apart from normal dolls, there is also a small farm or garden, where pulses are grown to resemble grass. The doll maker’s innovative spirit can be seen here too, in the tiny farming doll sets and miniature animal dolls created for these farms or gardens.
Sprouting pulses (kollu)
Harvest dolls
Airport Model
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