Stewards of the Ring
18 November 2020
Islamuddin of Chitral town claims his father was the creator of the first-ever such ring. Except the claim is contestable on the grounds that the art of fashioning rings from horns is known to have been practiced in Chitral from a time much before that time. What is true, though, is that these delightfully colourful rings are made only in Chitral. Nowhere else across the district or swathe of Gilgit-Baltistan are they to be found.
By Islamuddin’s account, his father stumbled upon the craft while experimenting with different mediums such as wood and stone. Once he perfected the handling of horn, he passed on the skill to two of his sons. With their father dead, Islamuddin and an older brother continue to be its only practitioners to this day.
Sawed into easy-to-handle pieces measuring 40x40x20 millimetres, the horns are soaked in water for a full year, says Islamuddin. Though the duration may be an exaggeration, the soaking softens the hard keratin making it easier to work. The water-steeped nodule is then drilled through with a hole as big as the girth of a finger. Held fast on a wooden rod tapering to thickness in the middle in order to take rings of varying size, the nodule is sawed around the edges to a rough octagonal shape.
Changing to a paring knife, the octagon is shaved into a circle and later rendered to perfect circular smoothness with a fine rasp and sandpaper until it becomes a rather wide ring. Sliced with a very fine blade, there emerge two rings from this single piece. A series of holes is now drilled around the circumference of each ring.
Pieces of coloured lac, heated on fire, are drawn out into fine strands and threaded through the holes. The ends of the strands, heated again, are tamped into little lumps. With a precision knife, tiny flower-shaped incisions are cut on the cooled and hardened lac. These incisions are filled with lac of varying colours. With precisely measured strokes of the fine rasp, the artisan grinds off excess lac to leave behind tiny multicoloured floral designs.
Once again on the tapered wooden rod, the ring is polished to smoothness with fine sandpaper. Finally, a brisk rubbing with rapeseed oil gives it a nice sheen.
That said, there are takers for his great variety of designs among men, women and children. Even as he works in his cubby hole of a workshop, men wander in and sales are transacted. Ranging in price from Rs. 1,000 to five times as much, his rings are a popular item of adornment among both genders and a must for bridal couples.
Besides the local market, the rings sell in stores in Gilgit and Peshawar. Islamuddin also claims to have a large market in Germany, Korea and Japan. When the district enjoyed reasonable tourist influx, summers were a busy time. Nowadays, only the occasional mountaineer comes in to make bulk purchases. But despite a virtual blackout of tourists in the country these days his wares continue to trickle out of the country.
Islamuddin believes he still has many years to go before he retires. But after him? He shrugs. His brother may leave behind a trained apprentice or two. But the way things are it is unlikely others will follow suit.
Labels: A Chorus for Craft, Crafts
posted by Salman Rashid @ 10:02,
6 Comments:
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At 21 December 2020 at 05:04,
Unknown said...
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Thank You for Your exciting article.I still have 2 rings from
1974 when I visited Chitral as a hippie and 2 rings from 2000.
I knew that they were made from goats horn but not more.
Chud Hafiz -
At 3 April 2024 at 03:04,
said...
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Do the old rings you have look different to the modern day ones?
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At 3 April 2024 at 19:40,
Salman Rashid said...
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They are the same.
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At 14 April 2024 at 23:30,
said...
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Have recently purchased the ring from Chitral bazaar, they are the same , some are thin and some are broad.
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At 14 April 2024 at 23:31,
Sid Khan said...
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They are the same, bought from Chitral bazaar.
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At 10 August 2024 at 16:35,
une ligne said...
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ok
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