Clay Images of West Bengal

In the first decade of the 18th c most of Calcutta was still under jungle. Amidst the swamps and paddy fields lived fishermen who set up small markets on raised patches of land called dehis. The city of Calcutta covers an area once occupied by three villages. To the north were the villages of Sutanuti and Dihi Calcutta while to the south was the village of Govindapur where the British established Fort William. Sutanuti was probably a cotton market and made rapid progress with Burrabazar at its centre supplying the British with provisions. As the British East India Company grew it attracted the services of welathy Bengali businessmen. Holwell, an agent of the Company, divided the steadily-growing town into a number of quarters named according to the business conducted in each quarter. It is at this time that we hear of Kumartuli or the quarter (tola) of the potters (kumars) situated in the northernmost village of Sutanuti and of Pautapara (the para of quarter of the painters or patuas) which was in the vicinity of the great Kalighat temple in the south of the city.

The traditional centres of clay image making today are Kumartuli in Calcutta and Krishnanagar in the Nadia district. Clay images are made for the annual Hindu festivals of West Bengal, such as Durga Puja which ends with the immersion of clay images in rivers. The tradition of clay image making in West Bengal probably has its origins in a medieval village tradition but it was during the 18th and 19th centuries that clay image making became established as the distinctive feature of Bengali culture that it is today. Wealthy Bengali families congregated in Calcutta, the trade centre for the British East India Company, and became the first major patrons for the clay image-makers.

The potters who make these images are called kumars but they often take on the surname Pal. Their work is seasonal and they have workshops where they create their images using clay from local rivers such as the Hooghly in Calcutta. Their patrons are wealthy families, individuals, clubs and businesses and they work to commission as well as selling images on the open market. Nowadays women as well as men make images.