Terracotta

Terracotta -- literally baked earth -- is India's oldest continuous craft material, worked since the Indus Valley period and still central to Bankura and Panchmura in West Bengal, Molela in Rajasthan, Kolarpatti in Tamil Nadu and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. Artisans use local alluvial clay mixed with sand or rice husk to control shrinkage, shape pieces on a wheel or by hand-modelling, dry them slowly in shade, then fire them in open or updraft kilns at roughly 700-900 degrees Celsius. Colour comes from the clay and the firing atmosphere rather than paint: oxidising kilns produce the familiar red-orange, while smothered firing produces black terracotta. Traditional forms include the Bankura horse, Molela votive plaques, temple votives, planters, water pots and tableware. Unglazed terracotta is porous, which is why water in a matka stays cool. Wipe clean rather than soaking, seal planters if used indoors, and expect fine hairline variation -- it is a fired-earth characteristic, not damage.