NAGINA

Because the iconic boxes of Nagina are made of ebony (or blackened wood masquerading as ebony), a few words are in order to clarify some popular misconceptions about this ebony wood. Ebony is the black heartwood of several species of trees of the genus Diospyros (family Ebenaceae), widely distributed in the tropics. The best is very heavy, almost black. Because of its color, durability, hardness, and ability to take a high polish, ebony is used for cabinetwork and inlaying, piano keys, knife handles, and turned articles. The best Indian and Ceylon ebony is produced by Diospyros ebenum which grows in abundance west of Trincomalee in Sri Lanka. Much of the East Indian ebony is yielded by the Coromandel ebony tree (D. melanoxylon). Diospyros melanoxylon is known as ‘abnoos’ in India. It grows in Coimratore, in the Bombay forests north of Canara, in Malabar and in Ganjam which lies on the East coast NE of Vizagapatam. The wood is hard and black and boxes are made of it. The fruit is edible. In the western antiques trade, coromandel and calamander are interchangeable but they are different tree species the latter being the calamander tree (D. quaesita) which produces an ebony wood of fine hazel-brown colour, mottled and striped with black. Centers of wood carving in Uttar Pradesh include Aligarh, Azamgarh, Nagina, Lucknow and Saharanpur. Nagina exhibits a graceful style of carving in ebony on many articles like tables, chairs, boxes, beds, etc. The motifs are mostly floral and sometimes geometrical. The place, Nagina always had a problem of transportation due to which the craftsmen made small decorative pieces as they became easier to carry. Nagina’s craft dates back 300 - 400 years to the Mughal times but with the shift in consumer base and low availability of real ebony, sheesham is now mostly used instead of ebony. The range of these finely carved pieces has moved towards simpler trinket boxes and small items such as combs. Nagina means "Jewel". This place was named by Syed Ghalib Ali who received this place as Gift from Mughals. He founded the city and built the Nagina Castle. Nagina in Uttar Pradesh, India is also known as 'Wood Craft City'. It has deeper and rich cultural impact on the art and craft traditions of India.

This ebony box and matching table is from Nagina in what is now called Uttar Pradesh. The box has a fragrant sandalwood lining and is probably the work of Muhammad Abdullah c1860.

The carvers of Nagina were Muslims and so unable to depict the natural forms so enjoyed by their Hindu partners. Instead, they made shallow carvings but of great intracacy resembling lace. This is illustrated in George Watt, 'Indian Art at Delhi', Calcutta 1903, pl.24. As Watt notes, “It was striking that the muslim craftsmen produced such fine quality objects in a small povertystricken village, far from a large city, wealthy patrons and raw materials. After the 1857 uprising against the colonizing British, the manufacture of arms was prohibited in India, the craftsmen of Nagina turned their skill from metal carving on guns to wood carving. Ebony was the wood of choice as it was local to Nagina being sourced in the Shivalik range. Although Ebony is hard to carve and splits easily the craftsmen of Nagina excelled in producing carving that confounded contemporary critics back in Europe, especially given that these items were being made on the street with very little in the way of equipment, it was clearly superior to what Europeans could produce. Unfortunately the art was lost around 1900's, some carving still takes place there now but the quality is nowhere near what it was back in the 1860’s-1890’s."

The craftsmen (and women!) of Nagina trace their outstanding wood carving craft tradition back to the Mughal era. It is believed that some of the wood carvers moved from Iran to Uttar Pradesh and settled in Nagina and nearby villages, where Indian rosewood was readily available. Today, woodcarving is still the main activity of the villages in this area but ebony and even rosewood are rarely used. Mostly they use Mango wood which has a good and strong heartwood and the great benefit of reaching maturity in less than ten years. The quality of intricate carving is nothing like it was in the 19th century when the author’s boxes were made but this is the fault of economic pressure rather than lack of skill on the part of the workers. It may seem odd to see them squatting cross-legged on the floor where the only electrical appliance is a single lightbulb but this is the lot of many craftsman in the Far East. I have visited violin and bow makers in Shanghai, Beijing and Suzhou and their work environment is similarly sparse. It is easy to think that luxury derives from luxury but that is not how it works. Historically it is poverty and long hours that produce luxury for those who can afford it. ‘True’ ebony, Diospyros ebenum is found in the south of India and Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka. Nagina is located in the north of India, northeast of Delhi not far from the Himalayas.

A typical workshop in modern day Nagina.