Saharanpur Wood craft of Uttar Pradesh is famous for beautiful and intricate designs and carvings. The city is internationally famous for this handicraft and its artisans who have been creating magic with the material for more than 400 years. The intricate and fine workmanship makes them stand apart from others.
The wood is sourced from the adjacent areas. A wide range of wood types is used to make products - sheesham for small items, teakwood for furniture and mango for antique items.
Grapes and grape leafs and grape vines are the most prominent designs. The motifs of leafs, trees, fruits, ornamental and geometrical designs taken from the various artefacts like monuments build during Saltant and Mughal ages are found engraved or carved on wood.
All of them go through the same basic steps – seasoning of timber, chemical treatment of timber, slicing, carving, inlaying and polishing. Craftsmen specialised in one (or more) of these processes and perform them every day. So each product is actually handcrafted by not one karigar but many.
Seasoning: Wood craft depends on the timber and before making wooden articles timber needs to be seasoned. Seasoning is the process of drying timber to remove the bound moisture contained in walls of the wood cells to produce seasoned timber
Chemical Treatment: When wooden articles are used in contact with ground or exposed to high moisture conditions they may be subjected to biological or insecticidal deterioration. The purpose of the chemical treatment of wood is to minimize the deterioration of wooden articles.
Slicing: The first step is to cut the logs of wood into flat slabs. This is called ‘lakdicheerna’ and is done using an electric saw. These pieces are marked with pencil and cut in different shapes and sizes according to the desired product, then are worked upon by the carving artisans.
Carving: In the woodcraft industry for a long time only hand tools were used, with time sophisticated automatic machines running on electric energy get introduced and are used. The carvers use them aptly to produce some astonishing results with minute details, keeping the intricacies and subtle light and shade effects, every desired curve, expression and texture.
Inlaying: Brass is extensively used for inlaying floral, geometric and typographic patterns into wood. Apart from embedding brass into wood, the karigars of Saharanpur have started combining wrought iron with wood. This is either to lend strength to the structure of the product or for pure aesthetic value.
Polishing: After carving the wood goods the next process is of polishing the goods. Earlier coal powder was used to bring brightness on the wood items, later wax polish with the help of brush was adopted which is still the mode of finishing and polishing the wooden goods
The Saharanpur Wood Carving industry started from art work of comb and gradually developed the portfolio of the carved wood goods like photo frame, glass mirror frame, candle stand, jewellery box, pen jar, tray, letter rack, wall panel, Metal Filling wood goods, brackets carved furniture, sofa sets, bed, cupboard, toys, swing, multipurpose boxes, chairs, Side Tables with drawers, dressing table, tables, corners, Wine/Beer Bottle Cane, Wine Box, wooden partition, Wood Filled Paintings, Fruit tray etc.
GI Tag Registration Date : 31 March 2014
GI Tag Number : 184
Certificate Number : 206
Geographical Area : Uttar Pradesh
Special Cover Release Date : 29 September 2021
Cancellation : Saharanpur 247 001
Type : GI Tag - ODOP Cover
Cover Identification Number : UP/85/2021
This cover is primarily issued as part of promotion for UP State One District One Product initiative. However it is also a GI Tagged Product with GI Tag details on back side of the cover.
Enlarged View of Illustration
Enlarged View of Cancellation
Backside Scan
India Post has also issued few special covers on Saharanpur Wood Craft, details of the same is furnished below (Not an exhaustive list, but only items from my collection)
Special Cover Issued on 24 March 2015 Cancelled at Saharanpur 247002
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