'Vihag' Photo Frame in Wood

Provenance

Vihag is the compact expression of the Fara bird-frame range from Jodhpur — a turned wood frame with a cast resin bird accent at the upper corner. The bird is individually cast in resin, given a gold finish, and assembled onto the frame as a sculptural accent. This is contemporary Indian craft: the traditional woodturning knowledge of Rajasthan combined with the resin casting techniques that Jodhpur's export workshops adopted as part of the city's expansion into international handicraft markets.

Birds in Indian craft tradition carry a long lineage — from the suryakanta of classical sculpture to the parrot messengers of Rajput miniature painting, to the peacock that appears across almost every form of Indian decorative art. The small gold bird on this frame is not illustrative of any one tradition; it is a distillation of all of them — a bird at rest, a small presence at the corner of something that holds a memory.

As with all handcrafted objects, slight variations in colour, surface finish, and dimensions are inherent to the making process — evidence of the hand, not defects.