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Grandiose vases
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Wah! that’s how one describes the rich medium of vases, dime a dozen in the market for the New Year, says RANJANI GOVIND
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Mmm..ANY STEPS TO GET THERE? Tall onyx vases are transparent art pieces that tell a tale of precious Pakistan quarried stone. Terra cotta and porcelain vases also compete in height. Photos: Shaju John
Good old vases in glass were part of every home in the drawing room that weren’t taller than a foot. But that’s history now, for, just as human beings, they have also grown in height with every passing year and lo! the market has a mind-boggling variety in onyx stone, marble, terra cotta, leather, stone, wood and powdered coral that are as much as six-feet high, making kids hug them in sheer wonder!
Tall they are and heavy too both in weight and price. Consider this: A colourfully bedecked five feet Rajasthani vase in single rock marble costs a cool Rs. 1 lakh and upwards. The explanation is, the painstaking work in microscopic detail has ornamentation of different kinds, including gold. The vase is provided with water colour embossing, fixed with precious stones, borders given with stain-free hand painting with the edges wrapped up with 24-carat gold foil…all this with Rajastani minakari running riot all over.
Pawan Handicrafts, which sources its work from Jaipur, has an in-house unit with expert craftsmen. It also encourages economically backward artisans by giving them daily wages. (Go into www.pawanhandicrafts.com for seeing all the colour)
If that’s something that only the well-heeled can think of, spare a thought for the terra cotta collection that occupies most important road junctions in the city.
Earthy colours
Done with modest mud with deft hands that shape up a variety only a fertile mind can imagine, the ethnic creations that are burnt in kilns for perfect hardness have earthy colours and paints in inspiring makeovers that could catch the eyes of both the traditional and the up-to-date chic for a drawing room facelift. After all, they are available from hundreds to just a few thousands!
Pankaj Kajrekar, an interior designer from Mumbai, who is an adviser to several malls for their makeover, avers that dry flower arrangements can be used to aptly highlight the beauty of the vases which are by themselves an object d’art for their makeover.
“In most hotels, they are kept as it is, so that people see the aesthetic sense in their design too,” he says.
Porcelain vases from China that are as tall as an adult with intricate painting work are also available in upmarket lifestyle stores, just as designer pieces in ceramic in ultra-modern unique shapes are a draw. Vases made of onyx stone are another attraction in most of the lifestyle and accessories exhibitions in the city.
The stone, from Karachi, Pakistan, is a resplendent, smooth, milky white or sea green melange which has attractive inherent grains even in deep maroon.
Costing as mush as gold, all the drawing room accessories too in onyx stone are a big draw. The heavy stone vase weighing 120 kg for a five-feet tall marvel costs around one-and-a-half-lakhs, according to the design.
A lakh for a vase? Now…don’t belittle the contemporary trends, we have arrived in interiors, not just housing!
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Property Plus
Bangalore
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Thiruvananthapuram
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