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Wood carving:
In the 19th century India, the following centers were highly active in producing masterpieces of wood carving: Nagina, Bijnor, Banaras and Mainpurl In Uttar Pradesh, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Jalandhar ln Punjab, Surat and Ahmedabad ln Gujarat, Vlzagapattam and Trlchinopalli In South and Khandela (Shekhawati) In Rajasthan, the major part of the collection was acquired from these places. A number of objects from Japan, Srl Lanka and Burma were also purchased. These centres also specialised in various modes of decoration — carving, inlaylng, painting, lacquering and veneering; For example Malnpurl excelled ln Tarkashl — wire inlay work caid Hoshiarpur (Punjab) for ivory inlay.
Wood used for the ornamental work in India are teak, shisham, deodar, sandalwood, ebony, walnut, tun, IAn, red wood (Madras), rohlra, Jack wood and babul etc. Craffsmen selected wood by the grain of the timbre, ~ bpendlng oll Ihe llama they had to make l ~ . teak. red wood and walnut for deep under cuNng and sculpture, ®Nghom and deodar are good for low relief work while sandalwood is excellent for intricate and delicate ~ ellahanshlp. For bold designs coarse grained sat, ba but and ra hide are used.
~ Museum collection of Albert Hall is of the 19th century, purchased in national and international
~ with a few escepllons, being gNs from dignitaries ulsltlng the museum. They are all creahons of Nhiees cralsmen as only selected items were displayed in those exhibitions.