Tanjore painting
THANJAVUR
PAINTING is a peculiar, ancient, miniature type of painting named after the
place Thanjavur [called Tanjore in English] in Tamil Nadu, a southern state of
INDIA. Thanjavur district is famous for various arts and crafts in
which paintings are ranked high among the other arts like Thanjavur Toys,
Thanjavur Plates, etc. Its origin dates back to the Nayak & the Marathaperiod in the 16th
century.
A typical Thanjavur painting would consist of one main figure, a deity, with a well-rounded body & almond shaped eyes. This figure would be housed in an enclosure created by means of an arch, curtains etc. The painting would be made by the gilded and gem-set technique - a technique where gold leaves & sparkling stones are used to highlight certain aspects of the painting like ornaments, dresses etc.
The painting would be bright & colourful and breathtakingly beautiful. The impact in a darkened room is that of a glowing presence.
Thanjavur Paintings are made on canvasses. The CANVAS for a Thanjavur painting is usually a plank of wood (originally wood of the Jackfruit tree was used, now it's plywood) over which a layer of cloth is pasted with arabic gum. The cloth is then evenly coated with a paste of limestone and a binding medium and let to dry.
Paintings were done on materials like wood, glass, mica, exotic media such as ivory, murals and manuscripts. The early paintings were embedded with real Diamonds, Rubies and other precious stones. Later, use of semi-precious & artificial stones gained popularity. Gold leaves and gems of varied hues are used in selected areas like pillars, arches, thrones, dresses, etc. The shine and glean of the gold leaves used by the Thanjavur style paintings last forever. Finally, colours are applied on the sketch. In the past, artists used natural colours like vegetable dyes, whereas the present day artists use chemical paints which enhance the sharpness and provide better shade contrasts.
A typical Thanjavur painting would consist of one main figure, a deity, with a well-rounded body & almond shaped eyes. This figure would be housed in an enclosure created by means of an arch, curtains etc. The painting would be made by the gilded and gem-set technique - a technique where gold leaves & sparkling stones are used to highlight certain aspects of the painting like ornaments, dresses etc.
The painting would be bright & colourful and breathtakingly beautiful. The impact in a darkened room is that of a glowing presence.
Thanjavur Paintings are made on canvasses. The CANVAS for a Thanjavur painting is usually a plank of wood (originally wood of the Jackfruit tree was used, now it's plywood) over which a layer of cloth is pasted with arabic gum. The cloth is then evenly coated with a paste of limestone and a binding medium and let to dry.
Paintings were done on materials like wood, glass, mica, exotic media such as ivory, murals and manuscripts. The early paintings were embedded with real Diamonds, Rubies and other precious stones. Later, use of semi-precious & artificial stones gained popularity. Gold leaves and gems of varied hues are used in selected areas like pillars, arches, thrones, dresses, etc. The shine and glean of the gold leaves used by the Thanjavur style paintings last forever. Finally, colours are applied on the sketch. In the past, artists used natural colours like vegetable dyes, whereas the present day artists use chemical paints which enhance the sharpness and provide better shade contrasts.
Tanjore paintings were used to decorate the halls and rooms
in houses. Now it is used in hotels,shops to attract people. In my father’s
house there were few tanjore paintings (original),After my father, I got a
share ,two tanjore paintings.shown below. One can see the difference between
the old & original and the present
day creations.
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