Handmade paper mache gift boxes make ideal presents for any occasion. Quality workmanship of Kashmiri craftsmen can be seen in the richly textured paintings. The designs used in paper mache naqashi are very intricate and their application requires a great deal of skill and accuracy. The patterns are painted free hand. The naqash draws from the reservoir of patterns and motifs in his memory. The chosen design is first outlined in a light color and the spaces outlining flower or the other forms which are to be filled with color are initially painted white. After this, flower, birds and other motifs are painted. Paper Mache products for gifts and decoration, handmade by craftsmen of Kashmir in India. Order these beautiful and unique Christmas decorations in bulk, in time for the holiday season. The creation of a papier-mache object can be divided into two distinct categories, the Sakhtsazi (making the object) and the Naqashi (painting the surface). The form is molded using a base shape.
This form is made of the pulp of paper, cloth, rice straw and copper sulphate pulp. The form is then coated with gypsum and glue, followed by thin tissue paper. On drying they are rubbed, smoothened and burnished. The form is then given the base color. The colors for painting designs on the surface are obtained by grinding and soaking various vegetable mineral dyes in pigment or stone form. The object is then sandpapered and burnished, and finally painted with several coats of a varnish made of linseed oil and pine resin. Papier mache, has become a sophisticated art, with even more attractive results, by using real gold and silver paint and intricate decorations. The final product is a beautiful art work that cannot be called a creation of one artist. It travels many pairs of talented hands before reaching a table or a mantel. The Mughals and the Europeans were the great admirers of this craft.
