“Of all the objects we have seen and admired during our visit to India, the Lota, that simple vessel of everyday use, stands out as perhaps the greatest, the most beautiful,” famous American designer Charles Eames had said of Lota, the spherical water vessel, in his ‘India Report’ over five decades ago on his visit to India. This very ‘Lota’ became the inspiration for a treasure trove called ‘The Lota Shop’ at the Crafts Museum in Pragati Maidan here.
Rated among one of the best museum shops in the world by blouin artinfo, an online global destination on art, in October, 2013, ‘The Lota Shop’ is nestled in the richly composite Indian aesthetics of the Crafts Museum which comes under the Ministry of Textiles.
The shop is a joint venture between the Crafts Museum and the Handicrafts and Handlooms Exports Corporation (HHEC) of India Limited, which also runs two other souvenir shops at the National History Museum and Dilli Haat.
The collection for sale in the Lota Shop complements the attractions at the museum.
Many of the murals like Madhubani or Patachitra painting adorning the walls of the museum also line the shelves in the shop.
There is literature on masterpieces of Indian art, articles crafted from brass, an ornate marble collection with inlay work as that used on the walls of the Taj Mahal, pottery, textiles, tribal art, clay toys, terracotta products, puppets, woodwork, home décor and exquisite jewellery from Rajasthan.
Crafts Museum chairman Dr Ruchira Ghose is one of the brains behind the Lota shop and its new merchandise and has invested his time and energy over the past four years to renovate the museum.
“We want to employ somebody full time to bring pieces into the shop based on the museum collection. We have so many paintings and murals. We want to use them. We are still in discussion with HHEC on this. We are not like the souvenir shop at Dilli Haat. Lota is the shop of the Crafts Museum,” said Dr Ghose.
HHEC’s Marketing Head, Sanjeev Srivastava takes pride in the recognition of the Lota shop. Giving credit for it to Dr Ghose, he said: “We have many plans still to realise. In fact it is part of our agreement with Crafts Museum to put well designed crafts objects based on the Crafts Museum Collection in Lota Shop. These could be a range of paper products (cards, notebooks, calendars etc.) based on the Crafts Museum folk and tribal art collections or actual reproductions of craft objects in the collection, including the jewellery collection. These would give Lota Shop a very specific identity and make it different from the other shops run by HHEC.”
While HHEC generates maximum revenue from its shop at the Dilli Haat due to high footfall, he said “in terms of many other criteria, it is Lota Shop which is the best, in a league of its own.”
The HHEC souvenir shop at National Museum caters to museum inspired statues and antique-like objects.
On craftsmen from across India being benefitted from these shops, an HHEC official said: “HHEC provides incredibly important marketing support for crafts. Furthermore, the mark-up on costs is very modest, so HHEC is a very special agency supporting the livelihoods of artisans.” HHEC is now planning to bring more shops around various monuments including at the Qutub Minar and the Sarnath Museum.
HHEC says, “there are so many wonderful products that can be developed around the history, architecture and design of each monument. The possibilities are enormous and exciting! We already have museum shops at National Museum and Crafts Museum, New Delhi, Salarjung Museum Hyderabad and Patna Museum, Patna and plan to add two more shops – that is Sarnath Museum, Sarnath and Qutub Minar.”
As renowned author Mark Twain once said: "So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked.” The same can be said of the HHEC shops, especially the Lota Shop.
