Two centuries of Channapatna lacquerware, paired with your pick of bangles, spinning tops, or keychains.
The same Channapatna workshops that turn our lacquered wood bowls also turn spinning tops, bangles and keychains. Same lathe, same vegetable dyes.
At $25 landed per box, the contents aren’t fixed. One bowl, plus your choice of two: two bangles, two spinning tops, or two keychains. You pick the pairing, we fill the box. Hand one box to a family or to a single guest, whichever fits your list.
Good for couples who want variety in the box without changing the craft in it. Everything still comes from one town, one technique, two hundred years old.
If you’re the kind of couple who’d rather send guests home with something made by hand than something mass-produced, here’s what you’re choosing between:
One bowl, plus your choice of two
- Two painted wooden bangles
- Two wooden spinning tops
- Two bell-face keychains
Pick one category. That pairing is the $25 box.
Where it comes from
In the late 18th century Tipu Sultan was sent a lacquered wooden toy from Persia, a diplomatic gift. He was captivated by it: the colour, the finish, the way it was made.
So he did something unusual for a king. He invited the Persian craftsmen to Mysore to teach his own artisans how it was done.
They settled in Channapatna, sixty kilometres from what is now Bangalore. The Persians brought the lathe and the lacquering method. The locals brought Aale Mara, a pale fine-grained wood that grew all around them, soft enough to turn and smooth enough to hold colour.
A Persian technique. An Indian tree. A king’s curiosity.
Two hundred years later the same families are still at it, in the same town. Channapatna holds a GI tag, granted in 2005, protecting it as a geographical indication.
The bowls, the tops, the bangles, the keychains. Different shapes, same lathe, same two hundred years.
P.S.
If you’re an Indian-American couple, or the parents of the bride or groom, you’re probably here in the middle of your wedding planning, tired and a little anxious about getting this right for two audiences at once: relatives who may judge whether it’s authentic, and friends who’ve never seen any of this before.
You’ll probably want to know the following. Here’s the short version of each.
- Does this represent us well? Yes. Every piece comes from a real, documented craft tradition, not a souvenir shelf.
- Why this object, specifically? Because it has a real story behind it, the kind worth repeating when a guest asks where it’s from.
- What exactly do we get, and can we shape it? Contents and pairings are yours to choose. We’ll walk you through it.
- Has Jodi Gifts actually done this before? Yes, this craft, several times. This exact box, not yet, you’d be one of the first.
- Can we trust the logistics? Landed price means freight and duty are already in the number. Everything ships as one shipment, no second box to chase.
- What do we do next? One line, right below.