COPPER GETS A NEW SHINE AND MARKET

industrial house of Forbes Marshall set up Studio Coppre, an organisation that would help the coppersmiths create items that had a greater demand in the market.

Copper is a high maintenance metal. And its use in the kitchen had dropped. To create a market, the product typology had to be changed — from functional items to decorative ones. “From making utensils and temple finials, we started making tea light floaters and such like,” said Mr Ranade. Getting these artisans to change was not easy. “They were making about `200 a day on orders given by stores and here we were telling them that you could up that four or five times if you made different things. It was a leap of faith for them to believe what we were saying. Initially, about 15 artisans agreed to make different items. Today we have about 50 karigars with us in Pune and about 150 across India. “Making contemporary products required not just design but also training. Studio Coppre started organising training workshops to show how different products were made. “Every item we make needs training of our karigars. We have to make prototypes, make them conscious about quality, design detailing, show how tools are made, how to save material and so on,” Ms Ranade explains.

In fact, seeing the success of Studio Coppre, more entrepreneurs are now flocking to Tambat Ali with their designs. But what is most important is that a dying art form has got a second lease of life and is flourishing.