Age cannot wither the charm of Thanjavur’s famous thalaiyatti (bobble-head) and uruttu (roly-poly) dolls, though the makers of these handcrafted toys have been facing a tough time for several years. Overtaken by plastic and battery-operated playthings, Thanjavur’s papier-mâché dolls that are secured to a clay base have found their niche as tourist souvenirs.
“I am not skilled in anything else, so I continue to make Thanjavur dolls. But my children may not follow me, and quite a few of the artisans in our area have gone into other trades,” S. Bhoopathy, a fifth-generation doll-maker, told The Hindu. Mr. Bhoopathy practises his craft at home near Punnainallur Mariamman Kovil, on the outskirts of Thanjavur, having joined his father at the age of 18. Their neighbourhood once used to host 40-50 families making dolls. Only around three have survived the passage of time.
“We have a steady demand, but a big labour crunch. During the COVID-19 lockdown, the government had arranged training sessions for youth under our guidance, but despite this, the number of skilled artisans is very low,” says Rajendra Prabhu, a traditional doll-maker from the village.
Traditionally innovative
The art of making these dolls was brought to Thanjavur by Maratha ruler Raja Serfoji in the early 19th Century. The craft earned a Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2009 and reflects a homespun combination of modern aesthetics and ingenious engineering. “In my grandfather’s time, the dolls were made of terracotta and hence they were heavier. From my father’s generation, doll-makers have shifted to papier-mâché, plaster of Paris and other materials for the body. I follow my father’s methods, because I feel the dolls are more durable,” says Mr. Bhoopathy.
All the dolls have a lightweight body made of tapioca flour, papier-mâché and plaster of Paris cooked and kneaded to the consistency of ‘roti’ dough. Copper sulphate powder is added as a fungicide.
Each toy is made in halves, by pressing the rolled-out ‘doll dough’ into cement moulds, with liberal dusting of chalk powder. The dried halves are reinforced with sheets of paper at the back and glued together with a cooked adhesive that uses tapioca flour as the base. The dancer dolls have a heavier pedestal-shaped feet section made of clay. The roly-poly toys, on the other hand, use a bowl-shaped clay base (shaped with moulds) that ensures that the doll remains upright.
Once assembled, the dolls are sandpapered and hand-painted, with water-colours for the dancing doll and oil paints for the others. The dancing doll has four sections (including the arms that are individually glued to the torso), each balancing on the other with the help of inner metal loop hooks that create the light bobbing movement.
Mr. Bhoopathy makes up to 75 nine-inch dolls a week and supplies them to the government-run Poompuhar sales showrooms in Thanjavur and Tiruchi. “My selling price is ₹120 per doll. The same dolls are being sold online upwards of ₹500. Customers want to bargain when they buy from us directly; but they don’t mind paying any amount online,” he rues.
A new market
Mr. Prabhu says a new market has sprung up among college students, who are buying unfinished dolls from artisans, decorating them and then selling them at a huge markup online. “We are unable to compete with them because we don’t know much about e-commerce,” he says. The dancing dolls are one of four papier-mâché handicrafts certified by the State government. The others are the two-piece moulded idols, multi-jointed figurines, and wall-hanging panels.
“Only dolls are bought throughout the year; the rest are seasonal businesses. But dolls are not as profitable to sell as the other papier-mâché handicrafts,” says D. Umapathy, who heads the 15-member Pareri Handicraft Women’s Self-Help Group at Singaperumal Koil in Chengalpattu district.
Seven stages of production
Dolls pass through at least seven stages from mould to assembly before they are packed for despatch, with each step, such as painting the facial features and costume embellishments, requiring a skilled artisan’s attention. “Before packaging, we check the balancing action again, to see if the hooks holding the three detachable parts of the doll are placed at a 90-degree angle. Doll parts cannot be inter-changed, because each one has its own measurements. Sometimes we adjust the weight of the base to make the bobble action perfect,” says Mr. Umapathy.
A set of moulds to create the parts of a 12-inch dancing doll costs ₹10,000. Once they lose their sharpness, specialist artisans redo the finer details on the master moulds for a smaller fee.
With a majority of artisans relying on middlemen to sell their stock, the craft’s sustainability is dependent on the availability of raw materials such as clay. A mixture of vandal mann (fine silt deposited by rushing streams of water), kali mann (clayey riverbed mud), and manal (loose aggregate) is required to make the dolls’ pedestals. “Earlier, it was available easily and free of charge for our cottage industry. But with the ban on sand mining, we have started purchasing clayey soil,” says Mr. Prabhu. “Not many people realise that it is the clay pedestal that makes the dancing movements of the dolls possible. We should do more to preserve the purity of this craft for future generations,” he adds.
