practically without properties, saving their pencil,
their drawing board, and, best of all furnishings,
an imaginative, active brain. Some I watched
were adapting old patterns, others enlarging from
tiny drawings sent by customers, the greater number
making original designs, while not far distant were
the men employed in writing out the directions
in long narrow strips that I had heard the boys
reading to the workers. So that weary eyes might
be refreshed while engaged in that tiring work, pots
of greenery were placed at the ends of the room, offering
a soothing contrast to the cramped figures and forms
locked up for so many hours daily.
The artistic perfection and material squalor were a
strange contrast—men at a wage of a few annas a day
doing work of priceless value; it was reminiscent of the
Italian Middle Ages, and afforded considerable food
for thought! Low as the wages are, these factories
have been a great boon to the poor Kashmiri shawl
makers, who, since the decline of their industry at
the time of the Franco-Prussian war, have been the
most miserable class in the country. Many have now
become carpet-makers, and as their wares become better
known and their artistic and technical goodness understood,
more will be employed and higher wages given.
Returning to my own boat I was beguiled into the
shop of a worker in enamels, who, waving in front of
me an exquisite lamp of gilded brass decorated with
many and bright colours, led me into his den, and,
cunning comprehender of female character, he insisted
on making me tea of the finest before he would show
me anything, thereby making sure of binding me to
purchase something after partaking of his hospitality.
I t was not the will that was wanting, merely the coy
and necessary rupees, but the man was well satisfied
with a small order, and showed real pleasure in exhibiting
his beautiful wares, some of the best ordered
for his Highness the Maharajah, and destined for
exhibition in London and Paris. Many of them require
months to finish, the enamel being slow in hardening.
They are made from crushed stones, and applied with
a delicacy of fancy and richness of effect difficult to
imagine unless seen. The blues made from lapis and
turquoise are handsome, and so is the carbuncle red,
but the beautiful dark greens and yellows obtained
from agates and amber are more striking and
uncommon. The old patterns, too, are very graceful, and
this industry—more fortunate than many of the others—
has been lucky in being unspoilt by foreign influence.
Too slow and costly to tempt the ordinary tourist, these
men have only been patronised by customers with real
taste, and they generally follow their stock of old
patterns, added to by such thorough artists as Mr.
Kipling, of the Lahore School of Art. Silver was also
used as a background for the enamels, but, on the whole,
the gilt copper was the most effective.
I had not long returned to my boat from this
expedition before my silver merchant arrived, and,
arranging many pillows for me, helped me into his
shikar, placed a mat for me to sit on, and, giving the word
to the men, we started at great speed, going down with
the tide. He had brought some new things with him
wherewith to entertain the “ lady,” and he spread before
me a beautiful silver ewer and basin after an old Persian
design, a strange teapot from Leh, curious ornaments
from Yarkand and Turkestan, a silver coffee service