The origin of the Thewa
form of jewellery is said to be from Partabgarh (or Pratapgarh), a small
province in Rajasthan. Unique to this small town, the Thewa art is a secretly
guarded technique. It has been handed down from generation to generation of
certain craftsmen who call themselves Raj Sonis.
Thewa locally means
setting. It originated in the eighteenth century. This form of jewellery gained
popularity among the British residing or visiting India at the time. The
Victorian and Edwardian women of the time incorporated finely crafted Thewa
pieces into their jewellery. It was often picked up as souvenirs and several
magnificent pieces of this art form are found among estate jewellery.
Historians of the time
often described this technique as “quasi” enameling or “imitation” enameling as
the jewellery often resembles the enamel technique with its coloured glass
background. However the actual craft is very different from enameling which
uses ground coloured glass melted onto the metal.
The technique starts
with fine gold sheets of the highest purity (24 Karat) patterned with the
design. Traditional Indian subjects are often used as designs. The gold is
worked on lac to enable the delicate openwork creation of the design. This is
then heat fused on to a clean piece of glass with extreme care and skill. A
bezel unit which is similar to the closed setting used in Kundan style of
setting is created. This probably is the origin of the name of this craft form.
A highly polished piece of foil which is made of silver or tin is placed inside
the bezel unit to form a backing for the gold and glass unit. This increases
the light passing through the glass and intensifies the colour and brilliance
of the piece. Sometimes the backing foil is also coloured to improve the hue of
the glass.
Today Thewa Jewellery
is produced in several popular forms like necklaces, pendants, earrings etc.
The art form is however unique and specialized. This makes every piece of Thewa
Jewellery a treasure to possess.
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