For Body Composition

Tragacanth Gum

ISSUES :

• It is a vegetable product used in composition as a binding gum. But during firing it burns and lefts vacant space in body which make it porous.
• Porousity in Blue Pottery products, prevent them to contain liquid material.

ISSUES :

• Unwanted, unseen components creates defects in body.
• Difficulty in procuring directly from Byawar or Agra.
• Local Dealer refused to provide material if small quantity asked.

• Need for precise lab testing facility.
• Raw material should be tested before use.
• Common Facility Center, which can provide tested and required amount of quartz.
• Requirement of a substitute binder.

• Saji is a sodium salt which have a tendency to absorb moisture from the environment, make difficult to keep the unfired products dry.
• Due to this, impossible to work during rainy season.

• Urgent requirement of a substitute.

ISSUES :

• Artisans totally depand on teashop for this glass.
• Locally available glass cullet on teashops also contain lead, that makes the body lead based which resist it in export market.

Recommondation:

• There should be a common dealer who provide the standardised lead free glass.
• Artisan should educate about the testing for the lead free glass before use.

Issues :

• No Issue Registered.

Issues :

• Most of the units purchased raw material from the same local dealer or procured directly from Byawar or Agra. Although they have not sufficient space for the storage purpose and those who have space, place them carelesselly in open area. Due to effect of temperature, the plastic bags burst which are not been taken care. Due to this the raw material get contaminated by the external impurities which come with air, water, dust. It is a slow process which do not come to notice but it shows its bad effect after firing.
• Because of the inconsistency in raw material, the outcome also affected. Due to this sometime the whole lot is rejected.

Recommendation :

• Common Research and testing lab centres with experts who can check the actual troubling impurities in composition and can suggest improvements.
• Standardised method and equipments should be developed so that artisan himself check the raw material before puchase or store.
• There should a provision of common facility center which can provide raw material to the artisans who donot have enough space of storage.
• The Units should have covered storage to ensure the 28 consistency of raw material.

Issues :

• Use of measuring euipment is not standardised.
• No fixed trend to record the quantity of materials at every time they mixed, so that one can register the false step.
• The addition of water in composition is based on approximation. No fixed measuring equipment is used.
• There is an important issue which has been highlighted during the intraction with artisans was their earlier method of preperation dough (khamir). It was prepared with manual beating of dough with the sprinkle of water. This dough contains more plasticity, which can be helpful in reducing breakage and cracks. The old arisans recommend this method but because of its laboriousity they use the regular method of dough preperation.

Recommendation :

• Workshop should be conducted for the artisans to demonstrate the use and make them realise the importance of using standradized measuring equipments for better results.
• Need to conduct workshops to educate artisans to maintain regular records of every material in composition which help them to reduce errors happened due to approximation.
• A machine can be designed to resoulve the issue of dough preperation according to the earlier traditional method, which require less water and give more plasticity and can prove production friendly.

Issues :

• No Standard method of preperation of dye.
• Very few skilled artisans are present who know the technique of making dyes and taking moulds.
• Dye making become a long and difficult process because to make a big single Blue Pottery product require different mould for every part of the body.
• Because of the use of unfinished dyes, the casted products have defects in terms of shapes, levelling and proportion.
• Dyes are left abandoned outside, no record and arrangement is there.

Recommendation :

• Training workshops should be conducted to prepare standard dyes, which also helpful in the development of new product.
• Design some system to organise all the dyes in proper way.

Issues :

• No organised space to store ready dough.
• Left it casually in a space where people come with sleppers and shoes which have impurities. these are mixed in dough when it is kneaded.
• Usually the work station is in open area, just a stone slab on which they knead the dough.
• Dough which is left extra during casting, reduces its plasticity if it is kneaded again and again to reuse for the other product.
• The moist ash is kept in open area, where soil can easily be mixed which is ful of unknown impurities.

Recommendation :

• Every unit should have an organised covered space to store prepared dough to prevent it to mix with other external impurities.
• An organised workstation should be developed, above from the ground and in a covered dry place.
• Design intervention required in tool development.
• Required to design a cover space where it could safely stored.

Issues :

• Totally depend on Sun for drying.
• Artisan faces problem during rainy and winter season for drying.
• Some of the units do not have cemented or solid floor space to place product.
• Tools have been prepared by the artisans by the locally available material like grass and iron scrap.
• Self made Iron plates used as a tool for measuring tiles.
• Use concrete or rough stone slab for levelling and sandpaper of different grade also used for finishing.

Recommendation :

• Need to design an alternate drying or hot chamber which will be helpful during rains and winters.
• Design Intervention required to develop standardised tools for cleaning and applying fine coating for finishing.
• Scope to design a proper workstation for finishing and levelling.

Issues :

• Ratio of mixing water into the composition is not fixed. No measuring appratus is used which lead to multiple error of application of thick or more diluted engobe. The mixing it done by hand only which some time causes uneven mixing.
• Again articles need to keep in Sun for the whole day for drying.
• There is no system of keeping engobed articles at a specific place. Keep them casually one on other which causes chipping and unwanted damage which left its impression even after repairing.
• Artisans use polythene sheets to cover article to prevent them to absorb moisture from air. This unwanted absorption and release of moisture causes cracks.

Recommendation :

• Need a designed measuring and mixing equipment for better results and which can be used to prepare even engobe for quantity of articles.
• There should be some provision of solar hot chambers or other chambers for drying articles even during the period of rain and winters.
• Clean and closed space for the placement of articles in proper manner.
• Need to design an insulating chambers to prevent articles for absorbing moisture.

Issues :

• Most of the units use the traditional method of color preperation on stone slab for fine color. It takes much time taking and labourious.
• Some units are equipped with color preparing machine but artisan use it only for some colors because machine is not suitable for the colors of heavy mineral.
• Degrading the quality of painting. The painters are paid on piece bases. Thats why he works with an intention to complete maximum number of pieces in a day and ignore the quality of artwork.
• Because of low quality in painting buyer don’t take it as value for money.
• Aritisan are showing less sensitivity toward the color combination and pattern making.

Recommendation :

• Scope to develop machines for fine color mixing of heavy minerals.
• Quality can be improved.

Issues :

• Most of the units have the same color palatte. They usually depand on exporters and clients for new designs. As observed all the units follow the same designs and patterns. The artists copy each other and make similar patterns.
• Now a days Blue Pottery artists use cliparts and copying foreign patterns which may harmful for the identity of Blue Pottery patterns.

Recommendation :

• Conduct workshops with skilled artists who can make and train others to develop new patterns.
• Artists need to suggest and train in terms of color combination and develop designs in series or family according to market trend.

Issues :

• Preperation of composition is totally based on approximation, no use of any measuring apparatus.
• Keep the article under Sun after glazing.
• The Glaze is thick and viscous, due to this an article takes one or two days for drying.
• Because of thick layer, artisans need to give a finishing touch before loading them into the kiln. Then need to remove glaze from the bottom to prevent the article from the unwanted accumulation of glaze.

Recommendation :

• Scope to prepare a new recipe of fine thin glaze.
• Artisan may apply wax at the bottom to prevent the bottom surface from glazing or if it get glazed, can easily be removed when wipeout with wet spounge.

Issues :

• Artisans working in Blue Pottery are struggling with this traditional wood kiln. They usually face the problem of uneven firing. They donot have have equipments and upgrade technology of temperature control, which increases the percentage of rejection.
• This Kiln is totally wood based which requires 5 to 7 ton wood in one firing, costs of 5000/- to 6000/- which is itself a very important issue to highlight. A state like Rajasthan which is already suffers from the unavailability of wood because of semi desert condition. Even though the use of wood in firing abundantly is not appreciable.

Recommendation :

• Urgent requirement of a substitute kiln to stop the use of wood kiln.
• Gas Kiln can be an option but the electric klin may be prove unsuccessful because of irregular availability of electricity and desiel kiln may prove costly if it compare to the today’s date production.
• Scope to redesign the structure of Kiln and Kiln furniture.

• ‘Black layer’ on articles is happened due to reduction or because of unfired glaze.
• ‘Red and black spots’ due to presence of iron oxide in the body.
• Mat finish- is happened because the article do not get moderate temperature to get required shine or due to uneven firing.
• Bend in articles - Due to lack of enough support at the bottom.
• Breakage and cracks in articles- is happened due to unnecessary moisture content in the body or mishandling of the article at the time finishing or loading.
• Cracks usually appear in lead free glaze and it may also appears due to sudden change in temperature or when hot article taken out of the kiln in hurry without getting it cool upto the moderate temperature.
• Blisteres surface occures because of over heating.
• Glaze flows down at the bottom because of the application of thick glaze, or sometime glaze get collected at the corners, causes rejection.
• Colors flow down during firing with glaze because of uneven application at the time of painting, leaves thick coat of color as patch or because of the use of less glue.

• Common Research and testing lab centres with experts who can check the actual troubling impurities in composition and problems druing process and firing and can 38 suggest improvements.