The art of bead work combines textile and fibre
arts with the use of beads. Transparent and semi-transparent
beads are used to produce a remarkable line of
embroidery. This craft developed in India in the
19th century because of the influence of the European
traders. They brought beads as articles of trade.
Though beadwork was time-consuming and required
much skill, concentration and effort, crafts persons
- both men and women - took to the craft.
The process involves several steps. After the
beads are sorted by colour, shade, size and arranged
in batches, the colour combinations of the work
is decided according to the designs to be worked.
Most beadwork has a white background with designs
worked out in colours that contrast and stand
out against the ground colour. The white beads
used are opaque, while other beads may be translucent
or semi-translucent. Beautiful, rich colours such
as orange, yellow, green, purple and red are used,
and some red beads have a white pasting within
them for an interesting effect. If dark colours
such as green or purple are used as a background,
white or yellow beads are used to outline the
figures and make them stand out.
In beadwork the border is generally made first
and then the rest of the pieces are worked in
either of the two methods, the mono or tri-bead
system. The beads in mono-bead system are closely
set in, one row after another, creating a flat
fabric. On the other hand, in the tri-bead system
three beads are taken at a time and a net-like
effect is created. Starting from the top corner,
the work moves horizontally, to the other top
corner, each row being attached to both side borders,
and then is worked back in the opposite direction.
The process continues row by row, till the lower
border of the fabric is reached.
Because of the inherent geometric nature of beadwork,
with precluded curvilinear patterns, the forms
worked have an angular and stylised effect. Yet
a sense of fluidity is conveyed as human figures
are shown with arms either raised or in movement,
such as two women facing each other churning butter
with a single staff that they are rotating. A
typical motif is depicting domestic chores done
by women. Geometric forms such as the diamonds
or crosses were worked as filler motifs, that
complement the central figural pattern. Interestingly,
communities living along the coast used the beads
to depict coastal scenes, while Muslim crafts
persons did not depict the living form, but worked
geometric motifs. Symmetry of form and composition
was an important element in beadwork. Each motif
was proportional in itself, as part of the whole
composition, and there was every effort to make
the entire composition both symmetrical as well
as harmonious by its choice of motifs, colours
and their compositions
