Jaipur Blue Pottery: A Story Of Non-Clay Pottery.

Specialties of Blue Pottery

Blue pottery stands apart from traditional pottery due to the lack of clay in its composition. Instead, quartz stone powder, powdered glass, borax, gum, Multani earth, water and sometimes soda bicarbonate are used to make a dough-like mixture which is then glazed with Chinese glazing technology for a finished product.

Blue pottery from Jaipur is recognizable in local markets and decorated with blue and gold colours. It often features images of birds, animals such as horses or camels.

Making of Blue Pottery

Making blue pottery is a complex and time-intensive procedure. The moulding dough is made by combining five main ingredients, which are then rolled into thin pancakes and placed in moulds with a mixture of stones and ash.

The mould is turned upside down and removed, with the resulting dough set aside to dry. The pottery is cleaned and shaped before being polished with sandpaper. It then dries after immersion in a solution of quartz powder, powdered glass, edible flour and water. Finally it’s decorated using cobalt oxide mixed with edible gum which has been crushed on stone applied by brush.

Jaipur’s ancient ceramic culture remains beautiful despite changes.