Crafts from Uttarakhand
From the foothills of the Himalayas
A small collection from two ateliers in the hills of Uttarakhand. A bell, forged. A flower, pressed. Made by hand, in the slow way.
See the CollectionThe Place
Uttarakhand, where the plains turn into hills
North of Delhi, the land begins to rise. The air thins. The pace shifts. This is where these pieces come from.
Uttarakhand sits at the foot of the Indian Himalayas, a state of hill towns, deodar forests, and small workshops set into the lower slopes. Cosmos and marigold grow in home gardens. Brass and bronze bells hang at the entrances of courtyards and roadside shrines. The two ateliers behind this collection sit within an hour of each other, working with the materials the region has used for generations.
One forges bells in copper, brass, and bronze. The other presses wildflowers, by hand, into wax and paper. Different crafts. One place.
The Bell Candle
A bell shaped like the ones you ring on the way in
The vessel is shaped after the temple bells that hang at the entrance to a Himalayan courtyard or a roadside shrine. The kind you reach up and ring without thinking, on the way in. Each one is forged by smiths from the Lohar community nearby, who have shaped bells in copper, bronze, and brass for generations. The finish is hand-beaten. No two are the same.
The candle inside is poured by a small home candlemaker in the foothills. Soy wax, assorted Himalayan fragrances, one wick. Burn it through, lift the lid, keep the bell.
The First Atelier
The smiths and the candlemaker
A small home candlemaker, and the Lohar smiths nearby.
The Lohar are a community of traditional metalworkers across northern India. The smiths who forge our bells work in copper, brass, and bronze, shaping pieces for temples, homes, and the everyday objects of hill life. They beat each bell by hand. The marks of the work stay on the metal.
The candlemaker pours the wax in a small home workshop in the foothills, by hand, one bell at a time. The pairing of the bell and the candle is recent. The bell-making is not.
The Wildflower Pieces
Cosmos, marigold, larkspur, daisy
Three small pieces made with real flowers from the Himalayan foothills, pressed by hand at a women's atelier in Dehradun.
The Second Atelier
A women's welfare society in Dehradun
A social enterprise, training underprivileged women in craft.
The wildflower pieces are made in Dehradun, at the foot of the Himalayas, by a Women Welfare Society that has been training women in craft for over a decade. Flowers gathered from the hills are dried slowly between sheets of paper, then placed by hand into the wax of a candle, the surface of a card, the front of a gift bag. No printing. No imitation. The flower you see was once a real one, growing somewhere quiet.
The candles are poured by women learning a trade. The cards are pressed by hands being trained. The bags carry the work of women supporting the next generation in their districts.
Care
Looking after these pieces
Gentle hands. Long lives.
The Bell Candle
Trim the wick to 5mm before lighting. Burn on a heat-safe surface, no longer than three to four hours at a stretch. The brass and bronze will darken with use. Wipe with a soft, dry cloth. When the candle is gone, the bell can be kept as is, or polished with a paste of lemon and salt, rinsed and dried.
The Wildflower Candle
Trim the wick to 5mm. Burn long enough on the first light for the wax to pool evenly across the surface. Keep away from draughts. The pressed flower on the wax is set, not loose. It will soften in colour over time, the way pressed flowers do.
The Cards
Each card holds a real pressed flower under tissue. Keep flat, away from direct sunlight. The colour will soften over the years. That is part of the piece.
The Gift Bags
Reuse them. The pressed flower on the front is sealed but not laminated, so the bag is best kept dry. A second life is a third gift.
A Note on Scent
Candle scents are assorted Himalayan fragrances. Each order comes with one we have chosen for the piece. For a specific preference, send us a message before ordering.