In Pakistan, the bead crafting initiated in Baluchistan but today, “Saeedabad” is the largest provider of bead handicrafts. Beadwork on bags, jewelry and fancy clothes is the most popular and being a part of our culture, this art has an attraction, importance and appeal of its own. Beadwork techniques that are practiced in Pakistan are distributed as bead embroidery, loom and off-loom weaving, stringing and bead knitting.

For a long time the creative acts that involve body beautification have not been regarded as art. Although beadwork has been in existence and has played a vital role in our culture ever since it came to life in Pakistan but it was not significantly regarded as a form of art. It is when beadwork was traditionally beginning to be practiced as a tool of making articles of ornamentation and elegance and soon it gained its recognition as a pure form of art.

Types of beadwork:
Bead Embroidery:
Of all the beadwork forms, bead embroidery is the most elegant. An interesting fact about bead embroidery is that women in asylums who do not have the mental capacity of doing daily routine tasks properly are formally trained for such work. These women are very well trained as they make some of the finest and beautiful pieces. They have learned to express themselves with this art and have gradually started being recognized as some of the finest artists in this field.

Woven Bead Necklaces:
With the weaving technique, an artisan is able to accomplish various looks from cultural to modern. Beautiful, special and one-of-a-kind beads are used to design beautiful ornamental necklaces. Sometimes as much as 400 beads, each of a different nature, are used to make these charms.

Wire Work:
Wire work is a skill that became popular in late 1980s. It’s the most interesting of all. It is fascinating to see a piece of wire being manipulated and being turned into beautiful jewelry. Several kinds of beads are used to make earrings with these wires.

Generally, the greatest strength of this art is that artisans are extremely talented and innovative. They are very able and the art gives a chance to the female artisans to come forward and prove themselves but on the other hand the skills, talent and the expensive raw material behind the final product does not reflect to its retail price in the market, hence making it non-rewarding to the artists. But if given an opportunity, these artisans with their unmatched skills can do a lot for themselves and the nation.

Built with a mixture of white and red clay, the exquisite blue pottery of Multan is famous worldwide for its design, uniqueness and durability. Potters use ceramic to make pottery. This is said to be the oldest form of art that is known to human beings. Over the years, as the world advanced, there have been a lot of innovations in the design and functionality of this art. The color combination is pre-defined with various attractive patterns of cobalt blue (derived from the oxide of cobalt), green (from the oxide of copper) and white is used as a base or an outer lining of the design. At times other colors are also used to enhance the beauty of the design. The art of making blue pottery is locally known as “Kashi work” and the artisans are called “Kashikar” The origin of this art lies in the turko-persian history. Today, it is distinctively known to be a specialty of Multan and the traditional Persian designs are now adapted and customized for more sophisticated customer demands. The art of making blue glaze pottery travelled to Multan a couple of hundred years ago. Being the hub of this art, Multan has a wide range and variety to offer, both in terms of their value and use. The beginning price of blue pottery is Rs 300/- and this can go high up to Rs 10,000/- and sometimes even more. Blue pottery is used to make a number of different articles of utility. These include Vases, Earthenware, and Serving Dishes, lamp shades, flower pots, pitchers, dinner sets, soap dishes and trays.

Animal bone is used to make beautiful and eye catching objects in many cultures and is valued as a tradition. Bone being a long lasting material is a good ingredient to put into making articles of utility and leisure. Among some of the most interesting and attractive handicrafts of Pakistan are those made of camel bone. Since the use of elephant’s bone to produce items is restricted in most areas, the camel bone is used as a perfect alternative for this purpose. These products highly resemble the ivory products.

Camel being an animal of desert is easily available in areas surrounded by deserts and is a common source of food for locals. The craft of making products from camel bone for the purpose of both, beauty and usage are made as a source of earning bread and butter in these areas. These items include jewelry boxes, key chains, chess boards and decoration pieces such as vases etc. After ivory, camel bone is considered to be the most appropriate material for making products like knives and chess boards and sets. It is more durable and easy to handle as compared to other materials.

The commonly found designs made in these products are pictures and illustrations of idols and other fictitious characters such as unicorn.

These products are made with absolute perfection. This art work involves loads of complications starting from cutting the bone into desired forms to drawing and neatly painting them. Once polished with a wet piece of cloth or wax, these items are great to gift someone or buy for one’s own self.

Seeing how the actual material of the camel bone looks like, one can have a fair idea of the hard work and thought process put into molding them into beautiful works of art. Craving bones and transforming them into attractive, desirable objects is a very interesting and lucrative art. Like every other art, this gives the artisan an opportunity to express themselves through their work and enjoy the art within.
                             Camel Bone- Original Material

History:
Jewelry, decoration items, knives and other objectives made of ivory was of the fastest growing and most appreciated handicraft in Multan and other cities. But when the issue of elephant extinction raised and the procurement of ivory was banned, crisis hit this handicraft. However, the skilled and talented workers of these areas never gave up and looked for a substitute and ended up introducing camel bone, as a very successful solution for their problem.

The Process:
Camel meat is an important source of food, especially people living in deserts. The bones are used to make traditional crafts. They are soaked in water for a few days so that the bones are soft and easy to cut. The bones are then cut using a special saw in various shapes and the pieces joined together to form jewelry, decoration piece or whatever is being made. Later, sodium carbonate is added to water, the mixture heated up and the completed object is put in this heated mixture. This process helps removing the blood and fat particles completely from the objects. It is then dried and exposed to sunlight. The final step is to polish these products.

The art of potter goes back to the beginning of mankind. People, since the most primitive times also knew that there is a certain type of mud which can be molded to make things of various shapes and designs and could retain its shape when dried. Then, a time came when the potter realized that fire would harden the shape of the clay and that it would no longer be breakable and thus for several thousand years that passed since then, potters made basic household utensils for the purpose of holding liquid and other functional needs.

Up till the beginning of 20th century, ceramic was used for making products used mainly in our everyday lives. But at this time, the objects of clay were also taking a more important part in our aesthetic lives as well.

Types of Ceramic:

The difference between red brick and white luminous porcelain is just the different amounts of clay and firing. Clay remains clay and heat remains heat; it is just the variation between the two that makes difference in the end product. These end products have been classified into three categories;

Earthenware: It is a form of heated clay work which is porous and is comparatively lighter in weight than other forms. Technically earthenware is defined as a form of clay work with 10-15% absorption of its unglazed weight when boiled in water for an hour.

Stoneware: The harder form of clay work which is not easily breakable and has the ability to hold liquid without getting damaged in called stoneware. Technically, it is a form of clay work which would absorb 2-5% of its unglazed weight when boiled in water for an hour.

Porcelain: This form of clay work is also called Chinaware. It is hard, dense, often white or off-white in color and would be lustrous if thin. Technically only 0-1% absorption would take place when boiled in water for an hour.

Clay:

Clay is a natural mineral extracted and dug from earth. It has the chemical composition which allows it to be molded into any shape of one’s wish. The talent of making things from this natural resource has been the cultural heritage of our country. In fact, this is the oldest form of art in our culture. These products, generally called “pottery” are today used as crockery, home décor and for other purposes.

Central and Southern Punjab is the hub of pottery in our country. Most of it is blue pottery and is the specialty of Multan. Other than Multan, clay work is also practiced in other parts of the country including Peshawar. Several institutes of fine arts have hundreds of students enrolled, making several beautiful products out of clay. Men have dominated the clay work handicraft of our country for several years. Lately, women have built up a great passion for this art and are participating equally to this field. One of the most interesting things done with clay work in our country is the making of products using paper clay. Adding paper in clay opens up the body of the clay and thus making it much easier for the potter to deal with a thicker body with lesser difficulty. Paper also helps reduce the water content of the clay and thus making it less prone to break off.