A well-recognised traditional art of Jaipur, the name blue pottery comes from the generous use of cobalt blue dye. Although a product of pottery, instead of clay, quartz stone powder, powdered glass, borax, gum, multani mitti (fullers earth), and water are used to make the dough.

The artform

Turko-Persian in origin, the splendid technique of blue pottery is distinct due to the absence of clay. It is a complex procedure involving multiple steps of moulding, rolling, flattening, drying, shaping, and polishing. The end-product is the dried, coated vessel which is decorated with a solution of cobalt oxide and edible gum. The colouring is done using oxides of other metals. These oxides are combined with edible gum and crushed on the stone before being applied with a brush.

GI Tag

Jaipur's blue pottery has evolved significantly in terms of materials, styles, and forms. To elevate this much-adored art, it was registered under GI in 2006 with support from NABARD. The organisation also took the initiative to register artisans/producers of this community as authorized users.