Address:
AHMEDABAD HAAT VASTRAPUR AHMEDABAD, AHMADABAD ,GUJARAT - 380015
About type of art
Artifact Name Pearl art - Work
Artist Name with mobile number Rathwa Falguniben
Tribe Name Rathwa Tribe
Type of Artifact Mask, tool, pottery, etc
Material - Colourfull small and big different size pearls, colourfull small and big size mercury, cotton and nylon thread, different size colourfull thin strings, cotton cloth, canvas
Use/Function Traditionally, tribal women had a special fondness for making and wearing pearl jewellery by themselves. This was a traditional art from ancient times. In all tribes, women naturally learned the art of beadwork and used to handmade and wore jewellery.
Usually simple pearl ornaments were made for daily wear, while ornaments for weddings, fairs and festivals were different, economically any kind of precious metal ornaments were not traditional among the tribals so pearl ornaments were worn by them.
The tradition of making handmade pearl ornaments was among the tribal women. So it was the trend among tribal women to wear such colourful, attractive and unique types of pearl jewellery with their own choice of designs. But especially among the Rathwa and Bhil tribes women this trend still been observed. Today tribal womens earn self-employment from pearl based modern designs making decorative pearl items with modern designs which are in demand in the market. Today Rathwa tribal women earn income by making large items and selling them at local haat markets and craft fairs, while the art has been passed on to a new generation of young women by Rathwa and Bhil tribal women. So this skill which has been traditionally practiced since ancient times is also seen in the new generation of tribal women today. Today, women of all communities, including tribals, wear items of pearl work as ornaments for decoration at weddings, fairs, religious festivals and specially celebrated tribal area fairs, which are an important aspect of traditional tribal skill development.
Cultural Significance
Traditionally, pearl work has been very ancient as a traditional ornament among all the tribes of the tribal areas of Gujarat state. In general, tribals have prepared various products of pearl work as simple clothes and ornaments in decorative art, especially tribal women have been popular in making various pearl products as ornaments. Usually in all local markets or shops in rural areas, colourfull loose pearls were found. Tribal women used to bring colourfull loose pearls from the shops and use them to make various types of jewellery. Generally, according to the economic condition of the tribals, they could not afford any precious metal jewellery, so most of the tribal women used to decorate themselves with pearl jewellery and these pearl jewellery would be made by themselves to look attractive according to the design that they thought fit. Tribal women have a tradition of preparing and wearing traditional pearl jewellery.
Colourfull pearls and Para bought from the shop by Women all together with four-five women they used to make pearl ornaments by sharing their skills with each other especially during the summer leisure time. In the traditional tribes they used work together with collective spirit, similarly among the tribal women also with collective spirit, pearl ornaments were made by helping one other. Tribal women used to prepare and wear ornaments to be worn on the neck, hands, feet, waist, head, and fingers for decoration. Although pearl jewellery was rarely worn by tribal men, the Rathwa and Bhil caste men used to wore pearl waistband with five to seven colourfull strands around their waists, which were also prepared by tribal women.
Traditionally, tribal men and women also used to give gifts to each other. In which Bhil, Rathwa girls used to prepare by themselves a 5 to 7 strings, colourfull and very attractive pearl waistband were given as gifts to their favorite young men.
Traditionally, a tribal girl used to known whether she was married or unmarried based on the special colour of pearl jewelry worn by tribal women. Similarly, tribal women used to make and wear different types of traditional pearl jewellery by themselves and this skill was traditional among tribal women. Almost all tribal women were skillful of this craft.