Origin and History

According to historical evidence, Meenakari work originated in Persia, and was later introduced
to India through the Mughal invaders. However, over the course of time, it has been frequently
associated with the culturally vibrant state of Rajasthan. This can be credited to Raja Man Singh
of Amber, as he was instrumental in establishing skilled artisans who he brought from Lahore.
Hence, today Jaipur is the hub of Meenakari work, and craftsmen from Jaipur are renowned for
producing Meenakari work. A wide range of intricate and creative designs on countless jewelry
accessories, is the outcome. Meenakari gold is primarily done in Jaipur, Benaras and Delhi.
Silver enameling or Meenakari is majorly done in Udaipur, Bikaner and Nathdwara whereas
glass enameling is done in Pratapgarh.
The Making

Minakari is done by artistically fusing individual pieces made out of colored glass powders.
Craftsmen employ the use of various mineral oxides in order to achieve distinctive colors. Apart
from using glass, the powder of various semi- precious and precious stones is also used in the
coloring process.

Meenakari earrings at Utsav Fashion

Influences over the years

There are a variety of Meenakari products that one can find in the market. Ranging from jewelry,
anklets and brooches to chairs, small temple stools, photo frames, jewelry boxes and key chains,
amongst a wide range of other innovative products. Although the base metals traditionally used
are gold, copper and silver, these days white metal is also being used, which has made these
products more affordable. Each metal has its own qualities- while any color can be easily applied
on gold, silver can only withhold colors such as green, yellow and blue. Gold has been the most
used base metal jewelry; however, silver has been most used in accessories and cutlery products,
art pieces and jewelry boxes. In fact, with the advent of white metal, a lot of Meenakari
embellished boxes are used for dry fruit gift packs during the festive season.
Faces Behind the Work

The artisans that produce Meenakari work are called Meenakars, whose craft is hereditary and
passed on from one generation to another. A single piece of a Meena work passes through
several hands for perfection. The process involves various artisans with specific functions. The
designers or the Nacquash, followed by the ‘Sonar’ or goldsmith create the initial design. Then
comes the work of the ‘kalamkar’ or the one who engraves the designs and this is followed by
the Meenakar or the enamelist. Then the product is polished by the ‘Ghotnawala’ or the polisher
and passed to the ‘Kundansaaz’ or the stone setter. Lastly, it goes to the ‘Patua’ or the stringer.
Each artisan is an important part of the chain that leads to the end product. Unfortunately, of late,
skilled craftsmen have become rare due to which a single artisan has to perform several tasks.
Present-Day Scenario

It is practiced today in various other places apart from its main hub in Jaipur, and each place has
added to its own distinctive variation, technique and style. For instance, the Meenakars of
Lucknow use the green and blue enameling on silver base. The gulabi meena on the other hand is
the hallmark of Meenakari done in Benaras.

Meenakari in crafts such as accessories and other products like boxes are done on copper, brass
or silver. You can come across countless items with meena embellishments like bells, fruit
baskets, trays, key chains and other products.
Maintenance

Meenakari products are durable and often stand the test of time. They can be used on a daily
basis, yet it is important to maintain them in order to increase their longevity. Meena loses its
sheen over the years; hence gold and silver products should be cleaned with a dry cloth and
stored by wrapping them in cotton. However, a lot of the meenakari craft items make use of
copper or brass as the base; hence you can make use of special cleaning agents like Min Cream
or Brasso to clean them.
 Introduction
 

Indian jewellery holds an utmost importance in Indian history, as it is an essential part of

women’s lifestyle. The desire to adorn themselves in jewellery dates back to the Indian history,
which paved way for the origin of jewellery. Jewellery has been a great attraction in India, which
was not only considered for the purpose of adoration but also for the security reasons at the time
of emergency. This is because the jewellery is highly expensive and it can be sold when the dire
need of money. This is how; the jewellery also serves the purpose of insurance that can be
dependable upon. Indian jewellery is very unique in its ornamentation with the delicacy of work
that has developed throughout the historical times. There are jewelleries for almost all the parts
of the body, including neck, ear, arms, ankles, waist, fingers and etc. The collection of jewellery
varies from religious to purely artistic types, which also varies from region to region. These
jewelleries were not only crafted for human beings but also for the Gods, ceremonial elephants
and horses as well.

India was often called as “Golden Bird”, as it is the house of various kinds of jewellery, ranging
from kundan meenakari to stone-bead works and for the availability of precious metals as well.
Gold jewellery is most famous among the women in India. Gold is considered to be very
auspicious and the symbol of status. Thinking about gold jewellery the first pattern comes to
one’s mind is kundan meena jewellery. The art of making kundan meena jewellery dates back to
Mughal era. The most mesmerizing kundan meena jewelleries were done during this period.

Kundan:
‘Kundan keshri’ is the oldest name, which is called as ‘Kundan’ in general terms now a days.
The word ‘kundan’ means ‘highly refined gold’ which is fiery yellow gold color in its purest
form. The extremely refined purest form of melted gold to set stones is used for kundan
jewellery making. Kundan jewellery is believed to be the most ancient art of jewellery making of
India. It flourished during the times of Mughals. This was the most important jewellery used by
the Rajasthan women and the women of Mughal emperors. The traditional kundan jewellery is
covered with stones on one side and the meenakari work on the other side. It is the Mughals who
were very much inspired in the art of setting gems, diamonds and precious stones to gold and
silver jewellery. This is one of the oldest royally fashioned studding jewellery designs found in
Mughal history. During the Mughal’s period, the art of kundan jewellery making was spread to
Delhi, Gujarat and Rajasthan. In the later days the craftsmen from various parts of the country
migrated to Rajasthan and started the art of kundan jewellery making which made Rajasthan a
hub of kundankari jewellery. But today this marvelous art of Kundan jewellery of Rajasthan is
known worldwide. The art of setting the precious stones in kundan is the actual aesthetical
technique, which lies in the overall look of kundan jewellery. Kundan jewellery includes the
hollowed golden framework in which a balanced arrangement of minimally cut gems, diamonds
or glass is set. This reveals the beauty of setting these gems in the shining golden base mounts.

Even today, kundan jewellery remains as an important part of Indian traditional wedding. Most
recently, in the year 2008 epic film of India, Jodha Akbar, the lead character was portrayed in
extensively worn Kundan jewellery, by highlighting the royal Rajasthani jewellery. In the year
2006, American diamond and the kundan jewellery contributed the largest share of both volume
and value market (73 percent) in Indian jewellery market.

Precious stones, gold and enamel are the most important things of the traditional kundan
jewellery. To complete the kundan jewellery creation, the experienced craftsmen lavishly enamel
the reverse side of the jewellery using the meenakari technique.

Meenakari:
The enameling work done on any metal surface is called as meenakari art. When the word
‘meenakari’ is split into two according to their meaning, it becomes ‘meena’ and ‘kari’. The
word ‘meena’ stands for ‘enamel’ and the word ‘kari’ stands for ‘art’. Thus the word ‘meenakari’
means ‘art of enamelling’. The art of Meenakari has its roots to Persia. In Persian language
‘meena’ word stands for ‘heaven’, ‘the azure color of heaven’. The craftsmen of Iran in Sassanid
era invented this art. The art of decorating the metal surface by fusing the minerals and treated
substances to it is called as enamelling. This is one of the ancient arts found in history. This was
spread to India and other countries by Mongols. The French tourist, Jean Chardin, who visited
Iran during this era noted the works of enamel in Isfahan, which involved the pattern of birds and
animals on a floral background in light blue, red, yellow and green. Some historians also link this
enamelling history to Arsacides period. However the use of enamel is unclear till the seventh
ruler of Mongol ‘Ghazan Khan’ (1271A.D – 1304A.D), who acquired the knowledge of
chemistry in a very short period of time and preferred to use his knowledge in the art of enamel
making, practically.

This art initially flourished at Jaipur in India, as the king of Amber (Jaipur) Raja Man Singh
invited the five skilled enamel artists from Lahore to Jaipur in 16  century. Thus this art became
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famous among the Mughals and the Princes of Rajasthan. And now Jaipur is the center of
traditional meenakari production. Later this kundan meenakari jewellery was also practiced in
Bikaner, Delhi and Benares, while glass enamelling was practiced at Pratapgarh. Here in
Pratapgarh the pink hue on white enamel of lotus motif was characterized mostly. This style was
also brought to India in the 17  century by the Persian craftsmen who visited the Avadh court at
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Lucknow. Enamel was first applied commercially to sheet iron and steel in Austria and Germany
in about 1850. Enamelling was one of the favourite techniques of the Art Nouveau jewellers.

Enamelling is an old technology, which is widely adopted. The colored stones and glass are
 crushed into fine powder and prepared for enamelling. But now a days some chemicals including
ferrous salts, cobalt oxide, copper salts, and other salts are used for the preparation of enamel.
These chemicals are mixed according to the metal used for the meenakari jewellery making.

Initially meenakari work was often unnoticed as this work was done on the backside of the
fabulous stone studded kundan jewellery. But later this also gave the special joy for the wearer
who noticed this special design of meenakari at the back of kundan jewellery. The most often
seen motifs in meenakari jewellery are flowers and foliage, peacocks, parrots and elephants.