Marble Inlay work in Agra

After we finished the Taj Mahal tour, Ramesh took us to see the local craft of marble inlay, which is the same art form used in the building of the Taj Mahal.  The men we met there were 9th generation craftsman. It was incredible to see these men work with shavings of precious gems and then cutting, shaping and polishing all by hand. 

They work in shifts and can only work for an hour or two at a time due to the intricate detail and concentration required. The owners father ran the business before him and he had 160 workers, this man now only has 90. So in years to come this beautiful artform may be lost forever. Also, the current generation are more impatient ('here and now' attitude) and they don't have the patience to do the detail required. The larger the pieces of gems being used in the art piece, the faster it is to make and also the cheaper it sells for. However, there is much less detailed. Such a shame.  The government are trying to help (I'm not sure how successfully though) by removing the taxes on these types of products.

It takes many days to complete just the cutting of the Gems for a piece of art. A medium sized marble coffee table with cutouts and inlays took an average of 9 months to complete. One of the men had shaped tiny pieces of blue and green gems and then, while we were watching, arranged them in a pattern and 'set' them in tree sap over heat. This is then polished and set into the marble using a powdered cement.

The gems being used are beautiful, some include - Jasper, Turquoise, Coral, Jade, Onyx, Mother of Pearl.

Any mistakes made while making it means the end of the current piece of work and they would need to start again. The patterns are all done by hand, no blueprints or tracing done. It was amazing to see.

When we entered the showroom the kids went crazy trying to find the piece they wanted. In the end the owner gave thema small  marble Taj Mahal for free - just lovely.

Of course the Gilmore women couldn't resist some shopping. The marble Ganesh table with the multi-coloured elephants is mine - it is a small side table. Unfortunately Mum's is all wrapped up ready to take home.