Buyer's guide
Bandhani and Kutch embroidery for garba, and how to buy themHow tie-dye is made, what the four GIs cover, and the one test a GI Journal itself recommends: buy it with the knots still tied.
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Writing
Guides & essays
Two kinds of writing, one standard. Buyer's guides tell you what to actually buy and how to spot a fake; essays are the thinking behind them. Each is researched like a brief — if you can read it in 30 seconds, it wasn't worth writing.
Featured
Buyer's guide
Bandhani and Kutch embroidery for garba, and how to buy themHow tie-dye is made, what the four GIs cover, and the one test a GI Journal itself recommends: buy it with the knots still tied.
Buyer's guide
Golu dolls for the Navratri steps, and how to buy themWhat the dolls are made of, which ones carry a GI, why your marapachi is probably not red sanders, and what a doll worth keeping costs.
Buyer's guide
Shola, the white craft of Durga Puja, and how to buy itThe marsh plant behind Durga Puja's white crowns, the new GI, and how to tell it from the thermocol it is still sold as.
Essay
Ayudha Puja, the day the tools are set downOn Navami a scooter and a chisel get the same garland. What that says about the line buyers draw between hand and machine.
Essay
The clay diya, and the rupee it sells forPotters supplying Ayodhya's Deepotsav were paid ₹1 to ₹1.20 a diya. Clay, fuel and price matter more to them than Chinese lights.
Buyer's guide
Diwali gifts under ₹3,000, chosen by recipientIndian craft gifts under ₹3,000, grouped by who you are buying for.
Buyer's guide
How to buy a hand-stitched Kolhapuri chappalWhat the GI covers, how a hand-stitched pair is made, and why a real one starts at about ₹900.
Buyer's guide
How to buy Etikoppaka lacquer toysWhat the GI covers, how the lac colour is made, and how much of the natural-dye claim a buyer can check.
Buyer's guide
How to buy a hand-painted Pattachitra from OdishaHow an Odisha Pattachitra is made, what the GI covers, and how to buy one with the painter's name on it.
Buyer's guide
How to buy kansa bell metalWhat kansa is, what the evidence says about copper and lead in food, and how to tell bell metal from brass.
Essay
Natural and synthetic dyes compared on colour, safety and waterPlant and synthetic indigo share one blue molecule. The differences a buyer can act on are fastness, mordants and effluent.
Essay
The ethics of buying artisan onlineA craft listing describes itself. The label tells you little, so look at the chain of hands behind the piece.
Essay
How to check whether a craft piece was made by handNobody can memorise the tells for forty crafts. One question covers most of them, and the checks in our buying guides are particular answers to it.
Essay
Why handmade costs what it doesA high price on handwoven cloth usually reflects the work in it. A very low price on something sold as handmade is the one that needs explaining.
Essay
What a GI tag covers, and where its protection stops"GI-tagged" is often read as proof of authenticity, quality and ethics. What the 1999 Act protects, what it leaves out, and how to check a seller's claim.
Buyer's guide
How to buy real Bidriware from BidarHow Bidri is cast, inlaid and blackened, what the GI covers, and how to check a piece before you buy.
Buyer's guide
How to tell real Jaipur blue pottery from a painted copyWhat the quartz dough is made of, what the GI covers, and the weight, light and price checks that separate the craft from painted clay.
Buyer's guide
How to buy a hand-painted Madhubani paintingHow to tell a hand-painted Madhubani original from a print, what originals cost, and where to buy one from a named artist.
Buyer's guide
How to tell hand-painted Kalamkari from a printed copySrikalahasti draws Kalamkari freehand, Pedana prints it with wooden blocks, and screen prints copy both. How to tell which one you are paying for.
Buyer's guide
How to buy Channapatna lacquered wooden toysHow lac-turned toys are made in Channapatna, what the GI and the safety exemption mean for a parent, and how to check a seller.
Buyer's guide
The Dhokra figure, and a casting method first seen in India 4,000 years agoLost-wax casting from Bastar, Bengal and Odisha: who makes it, which GIs apply, what it costs, and checked pieces by named artisans.
Buyer's guide
Longpi pottery from Ukhrul, ManipurBlack stone-and-clay pottery from Ukhrul, built without a wheel. Its GI is still pending, and nobody has tested the stone.
Buyer's guide
The best notebooks made in India right nowHandmade cotton paper from Sanganer and Pondicherry, a cotton rag cover notebook, and what to check before you buy.
Buyer's guide
How to tell copper, brass and bell metal apart when buying Indian metalwareWhat copper, brass and bell metal are, how to tell them apart, and which of them are safe with sour food.
Buyer's guide
Gifts for the researcher or policy person in your lifeGifts for people whose shelves are full and whose desks are crowded, each checked against its listing.
Buyer's guide
The Kondapalli toy and what it tells you about Andhra's craft economySoftwood toys carved in parts and painted by hand near Vijayawada: a GI craft of a few hundred makers, and where to buy it.