Etikoppaka Handicrafts Wooden Jewellery Box

Etikoppaka traditional jewellery box .Etikoppaka Wooden lacquer Toys Idols I Interior Home Decor Decoration Decorative Gift I Handmade Handicraft Artifacts Art work I Shelf Table Top Show Corner Piece. LACQUERWARE TOYS : Located on the banks of the river Varaha in Vishakhapatnam district of AP, is a small village called Etikoppaka. Made in the Etikoppaka region of Andhra Pradesh, these toys are made with lacquer color and are traditionally known as Etikoppaka toys or Etikoppaka Bommalu. The village is very famous for its toys made of wood. The toys are also called as lacquer toys because of application of lacquer coating. The wood is sourced from locally grown Ankudu or Wrightia tinctoria trees. Ankudu plantations were done on 60 hectares of degraded forest land from 1997 onward by the States Forest Development Corporation. The community today has around 150 households who practice the craft form. The village has a glorious history where the local Jamindars started recognizing the possibility of making splendid and attractive toys much before independence. These are well known for canon toys, lord Ganesha form and bullock etc. The toys are made out of wood and are colored with natural dyes derived from seeds, lacquer, bark, roots and leaves. The wood used to make the toys is soft in nature and the art of toy making is also known as Turned wood Lacquer craft. While making the Etikoppaka toys, lac, a colorless resinous secretion of numerous insects, is used. The already prepared vegetable dyes are further mixed to the lac, during the process of oxidation. After this process, the end product obtained is rich and colored lacquer. The lac dye is used for decorating the Etikoppaka toys, which are exported all over the world. However, after Chinese toys invaded markets, the US and European countries enforced stricter regulations that eroded their international market for the Etikoppaka craftsmen.