As some of you may know, I have become increasingly interested in Traditional Islamic Papermaking over the last year or so. You can see the sheetforming method here. I have been researching this method of handpapermaking in India and reading as much as I can about it. Last winter I took a trip to Orchha to look for the Kagazis that I had heard were still making paper the old way. But to my disappointment, that was a dead end. I followed another lead that led me to the Kagazi Mohalla in Sanganer last month. This post is about my findings.
Mohammed Husain Kagazi sits on the left next to wife and grand daughter
His son, Zakir Husain now continues the trade in his father's place. He is joined by his two sons
The paper is still made in the traditional islamic style
The fiber used is Sunn or Hemp, that Husain sources from Uttar Pradesh. Sunn used to grow in abundance by the river in Jaipur but over the years as the quality of the water has deteriorated, so has the quality of fiber.
It yields a darker and weaker paper that is no longer suited to their needs
The old papermaking vat, dug below ground level.
Muhammed Husain spent years bent over this vat making sheets of paper day in and day out
Muhammed Husain spent years bent over this vat making sheets of paper day in and day out
A woven grass mat or chapri constitutes the mould surface, upon which the pulp settles
The women make the chapri using the stems of a particular grass that grows by the river
To achieve the desired length, the stems are spliced together using the thinner and sturdier heads of the stalks.
This process of splicing and weaving is painstaking and can take months
This process of splicing and weaving is painstaking and can take months
The chapri is woven with the aid of a frame
A detail
It is then placed on this wooden frame or mould and held in place by deckle sticks
This is what is then dipped into the vat to make a single sheet of paper
The vatman adds pulp to the vat a bucket at at time.
He fills enough to make 100 sheets of paper in one sitting
He fills enough to make 100 sheets of paper in one sitting
The vat is then stirred vigorously for many minutes. It is then left to settle before actual sheetforming
The paper is brushed on using a brush made of stems of bulrush
Husain's wife brushes on the pressed sheets onto the walls to dry
The paper dries pretty fast in the heat of the summer
After it is dry, the paper is then 'brushed' with this porous chest bone of a camel.
This removes any stray fibers sticking up from the surface of the sheet
This removes any stray fibers sticking up from the surface of the sheet
The smaller sized paper is then burnished by hand.
For the larger sheets, the paper is put through a calendaring machine
For the larger sheets, the paper is put through a calendaring machine
The paper is burnished using a smooth agate stone
Some of the paper is naturally dyed. The dye is brushed onto both sides of the sheet
Indigo is sourced in cakes form Gujarat
Kachcha Kathha
A root that gives a red dye
A plant that gives a yellow dye
Tesu, that gives a yellow dye
The paper being made when we visited was being used to re-write and make copies of various religious texts. The coloured papers were going to be used for the same purpose and would have been calligraphed on with gold
