Shivaji - Warrior King (100% handcrafted deck) - commissions open
Exclusive, 100% handmade (Made to order - Ready to ship after 3-4 months of placing the order. Message for any questions.)
Commissions open
Specs:
1. Handcrafted from the ground up - preparation of the paper to the handpainted wooden box. Every deck is unique making it one of its kind and a real collector's crave.
2. 100 % illustrated and painted (by hand) 54 cards (takes months to make one deck) - Layer of lacquer is applied on the cards by hand making them virtually waterproof. The process used is centuries old and on the verge of extinction.
3. Comes in a very beautiful, sturdy & handpainted wooden box
4. A true collector's crave and a treasure - every deck is unique because of the handcrafted nature of work
5. This deck's concept was made under the guidance of Late Her Highness Rajmata Satwashiladevi Bhosle of Sawantwadi.
6. It doesn't have foils and other bling, you can't perform cardistry using this deck but you will build a legacy by having this deck as part of your collection for sure. West has never been able to see such a kind of handcrafted decks. Only serious collectors will understand its value. Each deck is highly exclusive, unique and prepared through an extremely precision oriented & labor intensive process using some of the best techniques, materials out there.
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I'm able to get this ultra exclusive and handcrafted decks through my association with Royal Matriarch Late Satvashila Devi Bhonsle of Sawantwadi. Rajmata Satvashila Devi Bhonsle worked tirelessly for decades to revive traditional art & craft forms and her workshop in the Sawantwadi Palace is one of the only few in the world where this craft of handcrafted & lacquered playing cards (most notably, Ganjifa) still exists.
Production process: These guys still use 300 year old process to make these cards.
Sheets of cotton paper blend are coated with tamarind paste (seed powder and oil), cooked with mud and Arabic gum. Few layers of the paper are grouped to form the thick layers and dried, further rubbed with the stone for a smooth finish. Main sketch is painted in the card with minute details of eyes, nose, hair etc. while painting of floral borders and motifs is done around the edges of each card & back. It is further dried under direct sunlight for a few hours. Artisans in Odisha use cloth instead of paper and it takes a few days to dry before they prepare for applying lacquer.
Sawantwadi (Maharashtra state) is renowned for lacquerware, popularly known as Sawantwadi Lacquer Craft. In essence, lacquer is a natural plastic; it is remarkably resistant to water, acid, and, to a certain extent, heat. Maharashtra is one of the leading producers of lac. Lac is the scarlet resinous secretion of Kerria lacca, also known as lac beetle. Kerria lacca is cultivated on dhak and kusum trees. Raw lacquer is collected by extracting the viscous sap through notches cut into the trees. It is gently heated to remove excess moisture and impurities. Purified lacquer is applied to the surface of the cards. Once coated with a thin layer of lacquer, the cards are left to dry. High-quality lacquer may require thirty or more coats, which makes the production time-consuming.
A similar process is used on wood boxes.
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Who is Shivaji?
-- Shivaji was an Indian warrior king and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan.
-- He is considered as a national hero in India. Further, he is also recognized as a warrior legend, who sowed the seeds of Indian independence.
-- Shivaji was admired for his heroic exploits and clever stratagems in the contemporary accounts of English, French, Dutch, Portuguese and Italian writers. Contemporary Englishmen compared him with Alexander, Hannibal and Julius Caesar.
-- Over the course of his life, Shivaji engaged in both alliances and hostilities with the Mughal Empire, Sultanate of Golkonda, and Sultanate of Bijapur, as well as the English, Portuguese, and French colonial powers.
-- He defeated Afzal Khan in a one-on-one battle. Afzal Khan was a veteran general and superior to Shivaji in size & strength.
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