OUR COLLECTION — ASIA — BANGLADESH 334. PAINTED CLAY NATIVITY
This 11-piece clay Nativity is hand-formed by Bangladeshi artisans. The pieces include the Holy Family, an angel, a shepherd, a cow, a donkey, a sheep, and three wise men. The pieces are crafted in terra cotta clay, and then painted in bold colors. The figures stand 5 inches tall.
The Mary figure and the angel both have the bindi—a dot worn between the eyes or in the middle of the forehead that is a sign that one is a Hindu. It is called the bindi in the Hindi language. In olden days, all Hindu men and women wore these marks. Today, the women are most faithful in wearing the bindi.
The bindi dot has a mystical meaning. It represents the third eye of spiritual sight, which sees things the physical eyes cannot see. The forehead dot is a reminder to use and cultivate this spiritual vision to perceive and better understand life’s inner workings—to see things not just physically, but with the “mind’s eye” as well. The bindi is made of red powder (called sindur, traditionally made from powdered turmeric and fresh lime juice), sandalpaste, or cosmetics.
Prokritee (meaning “nature” in Bengali) is an agency that provides managerial, product design and development, and marketing assistance to handicraft organizations in Bangladesh. Prokritee manages several handicraft enterprises and helps other groups sell their products in local and foreign markets. Central offices and a local outlet store, “Source,” are located in Dhaka, while the enterprises are located around the country. Prokritee and its enterprises provide jobs for poor rural women: widows, divorcees or heads–of–households, primarily rural, landless and with little or no income. By providing jobs for women, Prokritee improves women’s standard of living and helps them send their children to school. The organization provides skills development training to artisans. The design department of Prokritee is committed to developing marketable designs based on Bangladesh’s cultural heritage. Prokritee creates and promotes income–generating projects that benefit the artisans, adhere to good safety and environmental standards, and have the potential to become self–reliant.
The Mary figure and the angel both have the bindi—a dot worn between the eyes or in the middle of the forehead that is a sign that one is a Hindu. It is called the bindi in the Hindi language. In olden days, all Hindu men and women wore these marks. Today, the women are most faithful in wearing the bindi.
The bindi dot has a mystical meaning. It represents the third eye of spiritual sight, which sees things the physical eyes cannot see. The forehead dot is a reminder to use and cultivate this spiritual vision to perceive and better understand life’s inner workings—to see things not just physically, but with the “mind’s eye” as well. The bindi is made of red powder (called sindur, traditionally made from powdered turmeric and fresh lime juice), sandalpaste, or cosmetics.
Prokritee (meaning “nature” in Bengali) is an agency that provides managerial, product design and development, and marketing assistance to handicraft organizations in Bangladesh. Prokritee manages several handicraft enterprises and helps other groups sell their products in local and foreign markets. Central offices and a local outlet store, “Source,” are located in Dhaka, while the enterprises are located around the country. Prokritee and its enterprises provide jobs for poor rural women: widows, divorcees or heads–of–households, primarily rural, landless and with little or no income. By providing jobs for women, Prokritee improves women’s standard of living and helps them send their children to school. The organization provides skills development training to artisans. The design department of Prokritee is committed to developing marketable designs based on Bangladesh’s cultural heritage. Prokritee creates and promotes income–generating projects that benefit the artisans, adhere to good safety and environmental standards, and have the potential to become self–reliant.