International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD)

Volume 4 Issue 1, December 2019 Available Online: www.ijtsrd.com e-ISSN: 2456 – 6470

An In-Depth Study of Pottery as a Livelihood through a

Discussion of its Process, Shocks, Seasonality,
Trends and Economics
Saswatik Tripathy2, Jayabrata Bardhan1
1,2B.Sc.
Agriculture Rural and Tribal Development
1MSc in Sustainable Livelihood and Natural Resource Governance, Tata Institute of Social Science,
1Tuljapur Campus, Tuljapur Osmanabad, Maharashtra, India

2Post Graduate Diploma in Development Management, The DHAN Academy, Madurai, India

ABSTRACT How to cite this paper: Saswatik Tripathy

Pottery is a very old livelihood. From the time people started to gather and | Jayabrata Bardhan "An In-Depth Study of
store food in a permanent place the pottery was there. The earthen pots are Pottery as a Livelihood through a
the first-ever stable and long-lasting pot ever invented by human. From then Discussion of its Process, Shocks,
to now many materials came and inventions intervene but no one can replace Seasonality, Trends and Economics"
this old art of making a pot of soil. It is a time tested and generationally Published in
transmitted knowledge which updates its base during the course of time. This International Journal
study is basically done to understand the livelihood in depth. The main focus of Trend in Scientific
of this study was the process, economics, shocks, seasonality, trends and the Research and
problems of this livelihood. The state, district, block and the villages are Development
purposively selected. The tools are used to understand the livelihood are (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-
mostly participatory in nature. After a very critical and in-depth study of this 6470, Volume-4 | IJTSRD29606
livelihood, this study reviles a conceptual framework of this livelihood which Issue-1, December
can be interpreted as in such a manner that the livelihood gets a boost in the 2019, pp.563-566, URL:
path of the highly competitive market of the present situation. A future scope https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd29
of the study also revealed during the course of the discussion. The pottery 606.pdf
which is an undetectable livelihood from the ancient time in human life, this
Copyright © 2019 by author(s) and
study is a tribute to those hardworking artists who keep this art alive.
International Journal of Trend in Scientific
KEYWORDS: Pottery, Seasonality, Shocks, Trends, Economics, Conceptual Research and Development Journal. This
Framework is an Open Access article distributed
under the terms of
the Creative
Commons Attribution
License (CC BY 4.0)
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by
/4.0)
1. INRODUCTION
Pottery is one of those old livelihoods what was created in the Indus Valley Civilization (Wikipedia). Where ever in
the ancient era. Earthen materials are the tangible ancient India there is a lack of good raw materials for the stone
arts and knowledge what passes through the generations vessels, there the history of pottery starts. Especially in the
and tested by the time. Many materials came and go some soothers and the Easter parts of India it become very famous
become outdated due to the high cost or the low durability of that people not only make vessels but also the dolls and
the vessels but earthen vessels never lose its glory. During idols. According to Gartia et.al. (2016) it was found that in
the different era the art and the knowledge is updated by the the Munda tribal community earthen pots were used in
current generations which keep it trendy in the highly Jharkhand. Due to the popularization of still vessels the use
competitive market. Many new inventions and materials of earthen pot may decrease but still they are in trend
came but in few places there has no match of the earthen whereas the materials like cupper or the brash which is
pots in the society. Earthen pots are the best example of much more durable do not have that much market holing.
sustainable, ecofriendly and recyclable material which have
a very unique character of self-replaced. There is a beauty of Study area and methodology –
its no durability. The concept of sustainable village can be This study was conducted in the Mandar village at Mandar
achieved through earthen pots, where the maker will always block of Ranchi in Jharkhand. The village is purposively
get a stable income and the vessels will be replaced annually selected to study the potter community. The Participatory
by the citizens. The earthen vessels also recharge the food tools (Mobility map, Venn diagram, linkage diagram,
and drinks with rich minerals. In India the tradition of the problem tree etc.), case study, focused group discussions and
pottery started in a very old age, it has its evidence in the interviews are the methods for gathering the information
excavation of early settlements like Lahuradewa and later from community.

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 International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470
Results and discussion – of a potter it takes the structure of a pot. The wheal can be a
The earthen pot making is art which take a long processing manual one or automatic power by electricity.
days. There are some few steps from sourcing the clay to sell
it to a wholesaler the journey of a pot is given below – Sun drying –
After the making of the pots they are put into the sun for
Sourcing – Pots cannot be made from any type of soil. The drying. After the drying this pots are put into a safe place
potters collect the soil either from agricultural field or from where it will wait for baking in the oven.
nearly waterbodies. According to the potters the clay should
contain the of mud and sand in a proportion of 5:2. Mainly Coloring of the pots –
they choose loamy soil which have a tight but smooth The pots are colored with the red hematite soil. The making
texture. The indigenous knowledge of the selecting soil is of this color is also very interesting. Red hematite soil is
taught only to the sons of a potter not to the daughters. soaked into the lime water over night, later those soils are
According to the community teaching this technique to their sundried and preserved for future use. During the coloring of
daughter is creation of the chance of piracy of their ancient pots those soils are powdered and mix with water.
knowledge. Daughters may marry in some other clan of
people in such case the monopoly of this special knowledge Making the oven –
will not belong to the potter community only but to the other For making of one oven it need 2.5 quintal of fuel to burn.
clan also. The fuel includes dry grass and straw for lighting the oven,
little some wood and lot of Cole for heat. It takes around
Preparing the clay – This work is mainly for the women, the 30kg of wood and rest is the Cole.
big soil pulps are broken into small pieces and put into a
vessel full of water for one night. Next day morning the execs Baking of the pots – First the pots are put into a circular
water is drained and the soft clay it left for making the pots. format one after one and the oven light up. Then the oven is
In the case the family head feels there is a deficit of sand in covered with clay so from around so that the heat bake the
the mixture he can add some sand into it and stat to mix, role pots very well. After that potters wait for cooling down of the
and make the mixture bubble free. In case the mixture is not oven and collect the red vessels from it.
proper during the sun drying or in the oven it pots can break
into pieces. Marketing – During the sundry and in weekly markets of
different village they sell their products but that is also in a
Making of pot – After the clay is prepared the pulps of the very low scale. Mainly they supply the product to the
clay are put on a spinning wheel and with the artistic hands wholesalers who have a retail shop in the city.

Economics of the Livelihood –

Table1 Cost of Production of One cycle
Particulars Amount Cost in Rupees
Cost of Soil 1 Tractor 1000
Rent of the vehicle 1 Tractor 750
Cost of labour for Soil excavation 2 man day 700
Cost of Wood for oven 30 kg 300
Cost of Cole for Oven 2.5 Quintal 3000
Rent of the land - 500
Producer's Own family labour 14 skilled man days + 7 unskilled man days 6300
Total 12550

Table no 1 Shows the cost of production for a cycle of pottery

making. This is a cycle of two weeks and lots of process are Table2 Products and the It’s price
going on into this cycle as described previously. As the Products Cost (Rs. Per Products Cost (Rs. Per
potters are one of the landless tribes they have to purchase unit) unit)
even the soil from the farmers, it cost around Rs.1000 for Pitcher 50 Bowl 55
one cycle, to bring the soil to the workshop and excavation of Big Lamp 10 Lamp 8
soil from the field also take some more Rs.1450. Which need stand
two man days laour to complete the job. After that the rent of
Small 5 Plate 35
workshop and farmers own labour cost nearly Rs.6800.
Which includes 14 skilled man days and 7 unskilled man Lamp
days to complete the entire job. The fuels for the oven cost Rice Pot 55 Piggy 30
another Rs.3300. It cost around Rs.12550 for the whole Marriage 50 bank
process. pot

Table no 3 shows the income from the one cycle of the

production. In a cycle there are different products which are
made and sold to the wholesalers. The products and their
respective costs are given below in table no 2 –

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 International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470
Table3 Income from one cycle of Production workshop. During the summer and winter the high demand
Products Amount Cost (Rs. Per unit) Total of product is there. In the summer water pots and during
Pitcher 30 50 1500 winter especially in the time of Diwali the demand of lamp is
so high that people started making product for this season
Big Lamp 200 10 2000 from two month before the seasons come. During the rain
Small Lamp 400 5 2000 the work process also slow down as there was no more
Rice Pot 30 55 1650 space for the sundry in the places. Other than that in all
season people work daily very hard to earn the livelihood.
Marriage pot 40 50 2000
Bowl 50 55 2750 Problems in the livelihood –
Lamp stand 200 8 1600 The main problem of this livelihood what are the producers
Plate 50 35 1750 faced is the lack of proper raw material (Soil) for the pottery.
According to them the soil texture is not that much smooth
Piggy bank 30 30 900
and tight like previous days. It may like the organic content
Operational Loss (10%) 1615 in the soil is very low that the holding capacity of each
Total Income 14535 particle is become very low. It is a assumption that due to the
high use of inorganic fertilizers is ruining the texture of soil.
The table three revels that there is an operational loss from
the unwanted accident and cracks in the pots. This is around The second problem is the low income price of the product
10% of the products and nearly Rs.1615 per cycle. So from a from the wholesaler. The price what they are getting
complete cycle here is a gross income of Rs.14535. From this previously in the weekly markets, now the price of
we can estimate a benefit cost ration of 1.2 in this livelihood. wholesaler are not that good, but due to the decrease in local
demand there is no option other that the wholesaler.
Shocks, Trends and seasonality – In any livelihood there
are some certain shocks and seasonality what cannot be omit Conclusion and way forward -
in any moment of time. In this case the unwanted cracks and This problems are really very burning issue but everything
sudden break in the pots during taking it out of the oven is a can be solved through a collective production. If all the
very big shock to the producers. Actually during this activity families nearby come together and produce like a single
if suddenly rain comes or the change in atmospheric organization it can reduce the fixed costs of the livelihood.
pressure can create a huge loss to the producers. A new Reduction of this fixed cost will also decrease the marginal
potter always face this problem, but an old potter have the cost of unit product. In such case the profit will increase of
knowledge to protect the pots. each producer. Not only that people will get a strong voice to
bargain with the middleman and also in future can open own
If the trend is discussed deeply it can be told that from the retail outlet in the cities which can enhance the profit. The
ancient period this product is in the society, it has face many viability of direct marketing is not studied in this study, so
change of trends from its beginning. Once there is only one direct suggestion of the direct marketing is not that much
another product of stone vessels were there. But in the case feasible. Sometimes it become a myth that direct marketing
of cost and portability earthen pots are the people’s choice increase the profit of the producers but their the added
that time. Later the metals came from copper to steel it has transportation cost, one day labour cost and the losses
face many product but never loses its glory. But after the during the transport is taking into account there is a doubt
intervention low cost product from China a drastic fall of that hardly a huge profit producers get. But a scope of study
market holding is observed. During the festivals once there is still there for the direct market linkage and community
was no other choice other than earthen pots but now marketing. From the above all information and public
products from China taking all the customers to them. This communication a conceptual framework has been prepared
drastic change in the trend is a very big issue to this which is given next. In case the NGO and Government take
livelihood now. initiative to promote this livelihood and preserve this art
they can help the people as per the following framework.
Seasonality is the great factor of this livelihood, according to One push from outside and inner dedication of the producers
the season the products changed in the producer’s can boot the industry into a different level.

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Acknowledgement –
This research work was financially supported by the host Research Centre, Mumbai (India)); Sant Gadge Baba
institute The Dhan Academy and the authors express their Amravati University, Amravati (India); Luminescence
deepest sense of gratitude to the concerned authority of the Society of India, Mumbai (India); 325 p; Feb 2006; p.
institute for financial assistance towards accomplishing the 167-169; NCLA 2006: national conference on
study. The authors also grateful to the community members luminescence and its applications; Amravati (India); 7-
who gave their valuable time during the course of study for 9 Feb 2006; 8 refs., 3 figs
the better understanding of the livelihood.
[2] Gartia, R.K. (Luminescence Dating Lab., Manipur Univ.,
Canchipur (India)); Nabadwip Singh, S. (Luminescence
References –
Dating Lab., Manipur Univ., Canchipur (India));
[1] Godbole, S.V.; Natarajan, V.; Giri, T.K.S.; Page, A.G.
Bhengra, D. (Archaeological Survey of India, Prehistory
(Radiochemistry Div., Bhabha Atomic Research Centre,
Branch, Nagpur (India)) Proceedings of national
Mumbai (India)) (eds.); Moharil, S.V. (ed.) (Dept. of
conference on luminescence and its applications.
Physics, R.T.M. Nagpur Univ., Nagpur (India));
Omanwar, S.K. (ed.) (Dept. of Physics, S.G.B. Amravati [3] Pottery in the Indian subcontinent (Wikipedia) -
Univ., Amravati (India)); Chougaonkar, M.P. (ed.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottery_in_the_Indian_s
(Environmental Assessment Div., Bhabha Atomic ubcontinent

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