Handcrafted Silver Meenakari Cup

Description

Meenakari, unique art is also known as enamelling, the art of ornamenting metal surface with attractive colours and Kundan stones. In olden days the meenakari art was done on gold, but later on, it is done on another metal like silver. The word ‘Meena’ means the specific enamel or colour used in this work whereas in other words, mina is the feminine form of Minoo in Persian which means heaven and Meena refers to the blue (Azur) colour of heaven. Mughals introduced this unique art to India during the 17th century. Silver is a soft and shiny metal which is malleable and ductile and can be shaped easily by hammering. Silver is found in native form, either pure or an alloy in nature. Silver is commonly extracted from ore by smelting or chemical leaching. The meenakari in Varanasi is characterized by pink strokes on white enamel hence it is known as Banaras Gulabi Meenakari. This art is famous in the name of Banaras Gulabi Meenakari because of its unique style and colour combination.