Source: Facebook
Aug 16, 2011
Gold and Silver Wire and Thread Drawers at Work - 1873
Photographer: Shivashanker Narayen
The tinsel wires are made of silver, or silver coated with gold leaf, and made into a bar, which is then forced through a series of holes on a steel plate to obtain increasingly fine-gauged lengths. Traditionally the wire was then wound onto a reel, as seen in the photograph, attached at the other end to a jantar, another steel plate, which allowed for further refining of the gauge. Wires no thicker than a hair were obtained this way. A tola (180 grains of metal) usually produced 600 to 1,200 yards of wire. This product is used, sometimes together with silk, in a wide range of articles and garments. Examples of all the following were sent to the Vienna exhibition: turbans, saris, dresses, shoes, fringing, gold and silver lace, shawls, rugs and tablecloths. It was held that metal threads from India were less likely to tarnish than similar products from other sources.
Source: British Library
Potter at work at His Wheel and a Young Girl is Watching - Pune (Poona), Maharashtra - 1873
Source: British Library
Photograph of a Class in the Parsi Virbaiji School at Karachi in Sind - 1873
Source: British Library
Gold and Silver Tape Beater at Work - 1873
Photographer: Shivashanker Narayen
The worker here is beating gold and silver wires (tinsel) into flattened tape on a low anvil with a small hammer. The work is carried out extremely quickly and without missing any sections of the wire drawn off the holding reel. The tapes are used as decoration on a wide range of garments and may be sewn onto or threaded through woven fabrics. It was held that metal threads from India were less likely to tarnish than similar products from other sources.
Source: British Library
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