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Clay Art of Bangladesh
Clay is one of the most primary materials of human artistic expression. When soft clay can take any form, the slightest touch of the hands is clearly expressed in clay. After firing clay is almost indestructible and does not disintegrate into the earth like metal or other elements.

Pottery:
Clay pottery has been discovered in almost all archaeological sites of Bengal.Due to the quality of the clay available here, terracotta art has developed. In the second or third millennium BC the use of copper was introduced besides stone and the tradition of painting clay pots and making clay toys began. Pottery in a variety of shapes and sizes have been discovered from this period. In the early historical period of Bengal we find Northern Black polished ware, red ware, black ware etc. Rouletted ware was probably introduced to Bengal as a result of the trade between India and the Mediterranean.

These sort of pottery is generally held to be quite valuable and of high quality and manufactured for the use of upper classes of society. The commercial success of Bengal and a greater number of wealthy people increased the demand for high quality ware.

In 1880, G.C.M. Birdwood writes about the directness and simplicity of forms, and their adaptation to use of the handicrafts. He mentions Dhakas Firozpur, Dinazpur and Rajshahi of Bengal.

There was a huge demand for clay vessels for daily use due to some belief of the Hindu religion. The pottery of Bengal can be divided into three divisions- The Hindus. the Muslims and the indigenous community. Whether Hindu or Muslim, potters maybe divided into two categories- Kumar or rural potters who produce unglazed ware for general use, the other category is the artistic clay workers who are called kozagor and who produced artistic ware which are often glazed. Usually they are Muslims, yet there are exceptions. European scholars are of the opinion that when the demand for Muslim architecture fell, these artists turned their attention to producing other ware. They say that not only are the kolosh, kapalas, containers visually beautiful, much may be also learned from them. The winds of change have hardly touched them. Due to food habits, various rites and rituals, among diverse products in daily use, the clay vessel is still essential in rural life. Even though this is the age of plastic and aluminum, potters produce kolshis, pots, karais, bowls for yoghurts etc and countless other products. Kumars continue to hand down their hereditary skills to the next generation. All members of the household are involved in the profession. Even children participate in production. Women are intimately connected to the production process but their work is separate from the males.Etel mati is usually soft clay for making pottery. It is black or grey in color and it has very small percentage of sand in it. Sandy clay is called bele mati. There are however differences in the names, quality,color and elements in the clay of different areas of Bangladesh and it accounts for the variety of quality and type in the products. A traditional red color is usually applied to all household clay utensils. This color is usually made by the potters themselves and the raw materials used to make it are more or less the same all over Bangladesh. Red clay and catechu is usually mixed with sodium carbonate. In Chittagong the bark of a plant is used in this mixture. These materials are mixed and boiled in a special process and the clear liquid that is produced is used to color the ware,sometimes the color is applied by a cloth or the wares are dipped in the solution. These are then sun-dried and fired.Studio pottery or ceramics gained international recognition when the Ceramics Department was established at the Institute of Fine Art in Dhaka in 2962, under the leadership of Shilpacharja Zainul Abedin.

Clay dolls, figures and toys
There is a type of teracotta figures found which have remained unchanged throughout the ages. The ageless figures are basically created from a folk source. These are pressed into shape by hand and there has been no change in the execution or style through the ages. According to Gurusday Dutt, ,clay dolls may be divided into two categories, the sun dried and the fired. Clay is rounded and flattened, drawn into point and pinched, lines incised and small pellets of clay affixed by the pressure of the hand. At the end of the second millennium BC the use of copper was introduced beside stone implements in Bengal and the tradition of building clay dolls were introduced.These  figures have now lost the primary magical or religious purpose or quality and exist only as childrens toys.According to Gurusay Dutt, the original clay dolls may be divided into two categories, the sun dried and the fired.The women artists of these two categories may be divided into the amateur and the professional. The discovery of the mould is an important achievement of the clay artist, This increase the rate and skill of production.

Even though the tradition of making and using dolls has dwindled considerably in Bengal, it has not been lost. Dolls are now made in various regions of rural Bengal, and their variety and qualities have been considerably modified. Hand pinched dolls are still made but most figurative subjects are made from moulds. Some toys are made for melas (fairs), some are larger and better finished. These have been transformed from toys to decorative pieces.

Protima Shilpa (Image made of unbaked clay)
The unbaked clay images are considerably popular in Bengal, they re made year round in abundant quantities for the worship (puja) of Hindus. It is custom to sacrifice the idols in water after the worshipping ritual. This tradition may be traced back to eight or nine hundred years.

The practice of icon building that is now prevalent in Bengal uses straw in the interior and wood and bamboo slits for the structure. Many artists opine that the present day artisans who make clay idols are are descendants of the skilled craftsmen who decorated temples with teracotta in the medieval Bengal.Renowned folklorist, Henry Glassie mentions that the Pal or potter caste is divided into two groups. One group is the one who make the kalshi (the utility products) and the other group makes sculptures. The two have different method and technology, one is baked, the other is not.They are also opposite in terms of value, one is useful, the other is aesthetic.

The present situation of clay art
Significance of the creations have contracted and ornamentation has expanded in color, form, scale and style. This trend is more evident in the city. The current potters of Bangladesh please their middle class customers with things that are decorative in function, strong in color, weak in significance, foreign in form, elaborate in ornament, large in scale, and worldly in their reference.Middle class values, as symbolically represented in country potters, are solidly materialistic.

If we turn our gaze to the art of Bengal, we notice that throughout the ages many cultures have left their mark on it, yet its main rhythm, main current seems to have flowed over many obstacles in an unbroken movement to the very present.