Gifts of the Earth™

When I first went to India ten years ago, arriving at the hotel in the middle of the night, I was struck by the most beautiful selection of pots decorating the foyer. In due course I realised the extent of the Handicrafts Industry created largely for export to the specification of many western companies.I also saw the condition of living that millions of people endure in India.

I noticed endless examples of the most exquisite craftsmanship, design & colour in architecture, textiles, & artefacts of all kinds; and fell in love with the Indian sub-continent. I have met so many people over the years and been thoroughly spoilt.

As I travelled around India, I visited and talked to and searched for and found some wonderful individual artists and craftsmen and women who have been delighted to work directly with me to produce their finest work. Working directly together allowed us to promote their own aesthetic and finest work and creative skills, and to be paid their proper due, directly from me. Even the name `Gifts of the Earth' was chosen to highlight a more natural organic expression of making and trading in today's' Global Village.

Gifts of the Earth - Collections

Maggi Faulkner directs her efforts towards searching for and finding individual craftsmen and women in India who are not involved in the major Handicrafts Industry. They work out a collection that has grown out of an Indian aesthetic, traditional skill with contemporary interpretation. In this way Gifts of the Earth Collections are culturally and aesthetically Indian. In the same spirit, proper payment is made directly to the craftspeople for their work.

Ebony Sunset Collection
In India, a Kumbhar, or Potter comes form the Sanskrit word Kumbha or water pot, which in the myth of origin contained the nectar of immortality. More recently the creative fusion of the brilliant 16th Century Moghul Hindu culture has informed generations of Indian artists and craftsmen, and the Kumbhars are still an integral part of everyday Indian culture.

The Ebony Sunset Collection has been created by award winning Rajasthani Potter Gin Raj Prasad. His work fuses traditional forms and colour with contemporary expressions of feeling and aesthetic in clay. Each individual piece is hand thrown and hand burnished. The woodfired kilns produce earthenware pots and vessels with Black, Orange and Biscuit markings. The Ebony Sunset Collection includes a series of elegant urns, pitchers and pots for architectural and indoor settings, and smaller decorative display goods - bowls, lidded pots and bottles. Each piece is unique as the wood smoke produces fine colouring and patterns.

All given sizes are approximate as each pot is hand thrown on a hand operated wheel, and buffed giving the finished pot a warm lustre, and then wood fired which creates the wonderful orange & black impressionist colouring. Real collector's pieces with the potters signature on each pot and with a certificate of authenticity supplied with every purchase.

Miniature Selection
Perfect for gifts, as well as for collectors. A selection of beautifully crafted smaller pottery pieces to display in a group or individually. The latest collection consists of bottles, flasks, lidded bowls, and scaled down elegant Anar, Kadhu and Tamba shaped pots. The miniature collection will appeal to those who appreciate beautiful craftsmanship but lack the space to display larger pieces, and for collectors of `Miniatures'.

Decorative Pieces
Specially selected medium sized pots suited for retail, and for displaying on shelves and around the home. They are also ideal gifts and wedding presents.
Each pot is a unique work of art - the patterns and finishing are completely individual - made by the most gifted living potters in India today. So highly are these pieces prized by the makers that they are supplied with a certificate of authenticity.

Architectural & Freestanding Pieces
These outstanding, graceful tall architectural and freestanding pieces are perfect for visual punctuation in open spaces, entrance areas, hotels, offices, restaurants, & open-plan areas.

They can be used to divide space or different areas of activities. Lighting adds to their beauty and aesthetic appreciation in daytime or by night.
Bowl shaped vessels can be lined and planted for additional dramatic effect. Elegant wrought iron stands to add height and stature to the piece, and can be bought for individual Bilauni open vessels.

These large ceramic pieces are produced on hand-turned wheels and represent the apogee of craftsmanship possible using this technique. Each piece is signed by the maker and presented with a certificate of authenticity.

The Marlis Collection - Fabric Fruit and Animals
Marlis has had a dynamic and creative career since gaining a Degree in Ceramics from Croydon School of Art in 1973-76 where her interest in textiles took root.

After Croydon, Marlis developed her own fashion collections in the late seventies and early eighties, making the most exquisite jackets which were sought after by the rich and famous, selling in London and New York.

Interspersed with fashion collections Marlis worked with Peter Minschal the Carnival Grand Master, on fabulous carnival costume creations in Trinidad, which richly influenced both her fashion creations, and subsequent work on the main body of her work on the Soft Sculptural Collection.

This Soft Sculptural Collection demonstrates Marlis' commitment to working from an environmental perspective. This collection comprises either cushion/seating, carpet or sculptural pieces.

The creation of the environmental project has culminated in the creation of her Soft Sculptural Collection, and involved using the weavers waste from the Indian craftsmen around her home in Northern India.

Marlis will travel to the UK to prepare her Soft Sculptural forms prior to despatch to the Customer. Customers will be advised individually of the delivery for each soft sculpture.

For More information contact

Gifts of the Earth™

11 Lucerne Road
Brighton
East Sussex
BN1 6GH
England

tel: +44 [0] 1273 550990
fax: +44 [0] 1444 870095
email: gifts.earth@btinternet.com