Decorative Plate with Stand

About this piece

Decorative Plate with Stand — A turned plate and its display stand. Made by hand from sheesham (rosewood) and coloured lac and finished in naqshi lac, the pattern scratched back through the colour, in the Sillanwali Handicrafts workshop in Sillanwali, Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. It measures 10–12 in across. It costs PKR 1,900. It is ready to ship and delivered within 3 to 4 days anywhere in Pakistan, paid in cash on delivery.

A turned display plate ringed in fine concentric scratchwork, supplied with a wooden stand so it can sit on a shelf or a sideboard without a wall fixing. Made in ten inch and twelve inch. The plate is turned on the khraad, and the lac goes on while it is still spinning — a battī, a stick of coloured lac, pressed against the moving wood, melted on by the friction. The pattern is then cut back through those layers with the sathrī, the iron tool that opens the furrow as the plate turns, which is why the rings are true circles and why the line is even all the way round. It is the one part of naqshi work the lathe does better than a hand ever could, and the reason plates carry this kind of banded pattern rather than a picture. The stand is turned separately and holds the plate at a tilt so the rings catch light from across a room. The twelve inch reads better on a sideboard; the ten inch suits a narrower shelf or a pair. Made in Sillanwali, Sargodha, and worked individually, so the bands fall differently on every plate. Dust with a soft dry cloth, keep water and polish sprays off the lac, and keep it out of direct sunlight. A name or a date can be cut into the outer band.

Every piece is made by hand, so the wood grain, carving and colour vary a little from the photo. That variation is normal and is what makes each one its own.