The tradition
Ghurni clay modelling
- Based in
- Krishnanagar, West Bengal
- Maker's mark
- A thumbprint pressed into the unglazed base of every work.
In her words, our record
Radha Devi Pal was born into the Ghurni colony of Krishnanagar, where clay modelling has been the family trade since the courts of the Nadia kings commissioned likenesses of their own. Her grandmother taught her to read the moods of the local Jalangi river clay — when it was willing, when it would crack, when to let it rest.
For four decades she has worked almost entirely by hand and thumb, using a small set of bamboo tools worn smooth by use. She is known for a restraint unusual in devotional work: her figures are quiet, interior, caught in a held breath rather than a grand gesture.
She now trains seven women from her neighbourhood, paying them through the season so the craft does not vanish with her generation. Every piece she releases to Artisan Reserve is one she would have been willing to keep.
Inside the workshop
Where the work is made
Collect her work
