# Meenakari of Jaipur

Coloured glass, fused to gold. Meenakari is the historic art of enamel decoration. To create it, artisans deposit powdered glass blended with metal oxides into finely engraved hollows, firing the metal until the enamel liquefies and settles seamlessly into place. Renowned in Jaipur high jewellery, this vibrant technique traditionally decorates the reverse side of an ornament, mirroring the opulence of the gemstones mounted on the front.

Page: <https://www.karigarh.com/crafts/meenakari>

- **Made in:** Jaipur, Rajasthan
- **Material:** Enamel (coloured glass) fused to gold, silver or copper
- **Technique:** Colour laid in engraved hollows, fired colour by colour
- **Often paired with:** Kundan stone setting on the front
- **Recognition:** GI application for Kundan Meena Jewellery under examination

## Two sides of one necklace

The same necklace, front and back. It was probably made in Jaipur, in the
18th–19th century, and is now in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
(15.95.73). The page shows the Museum's public-domain photographs of both
sides: rock-crystal pendants inlaid with gold, rubies, sapphires and quartz on
the front, and red and green enamel on a white ground on the back.

The Met's record describes the back of this necklace as “high quality
meenakari”, red and green on a white ground, and calls that palette a
speciality of Jaipur.

Its front carries rock-crystal pendants inlaid with gold and gems. On many
Jaipur pieces, such as the second necklace further down this page, the front
is set in *kundan*: stones held in a gold mount with fine gold foil pressed
around them. Kundan jewellery often carries meenakari on its reverse. Not
always: kundan work in 22-carat gold is described as having no enamel on the
back.

The jewellery historian Usha Balakrishnan has explained the arrangement
simply: in India, kundan took the front, so enamel moved to the back. Writing
for The Met in 2015 about another necklace, probably from Jaipur, Harita Koya
called its enamelled reverse “a private pleasure perhaps intended foremost for
the wearer's eyes”. It was the side that rested against the wearer.

## What enamel is

Enamel is glass. Each colour starts as a metal oxide ground together with
powdered glass. In the kiln, at around 850 °C, the powder melts and fuses to
the metal beneath it. On copper, the first ground coat goes in a little
cooler, at about 830 °C.

Jaipur's enamellers usually work in *champlevé*. The metal is engraved first
and the colour laid into the hollows. Thin raised lines of metal stand between
the colours, so each one sits in its own bed.

The word itself is usually traced to the Persian *mina*, a word for paradise.

### What is drawn in it

- **Flowers:** red and green sprays, as on the backs of both necklaces shown
  here
- **Birds:** peacocks and parrots among the flowers
- **Hunting scenes:** on an enamelled gold box from India in the Royal
  Collection

The sources name these motifs without giving them fixed meanings, so none are
claimed here.

## Reading the colours

### Blue, on the front

Most Jaipur kundan jewellery keeps its colour on the back. An
eighteenth-century necklace attributed to Jaipur, now in The Met (15.95.54),
is enamelled on both sides. On the front of its pendant, deep blue fills the
ground around flowers of set stones, so the enamel and the kundan are seen
together.

### Red and green

Red is the hardest colour to get right: enamellers in Delhi count a brilliant
red as the most difficult to achieve. Here it is paired with green, as on the
backs of both necklaces on this page. Under one pair the ground is gold. Under
the other it is white, a combination The Met calls a speciality of Jaipur.

### Panchranga, and the metal beneath

Red, green, blue and white enamelled together on gold are called *panchranga*.
Gold is the traditional base and takes the widest range of colours. Silver
takes fewer, among them pink, green and blue. Copper is also enamelled.

Each colour is fired in turn. Enamellers in Delhi start with the colour that
best stands the heat; the Varanasi GI filing starts with white. In Jaipur,
practice varies.

## How enamel came to Jaipur

Enamel from Jaipur in museum collections dates from the eighteenth century.
How the craft reached the city is an older story, and a less certain one.

## From Amber to Jaipur

Enamelling in India is most often traced to Persia, by way of the Mughal
court, under which it came into prominence. In Rajasthan the craft is tied to
the court of Amber, the capital before Jaipur.

The story told in Jaipur is that the craft began when five Sikh enamellers
from Lahore came to the court of Amber in the reign of Man Singh I
(1589–1614). LACMA's catalogue repeats the story but doubts it.

The surviving objects are better documented. Necklaces in The Met attributed
to Jaipur date from the eighteenth century. A turban ornament in the V&A,
London, probably from the Jaipur royal workshops, is dated about 1800 to 1850.
In 1879 a Jaipur enameller named Ghuma Singh signed and dated a pendant now at
LACMA, one of very few signed pieces. In 1884 designs for enamel by Ram Baksh
of the Jaipur School of Art were published in an issue of the Journal of
Indian Art on the Jaipur Exhibition of 1883.

### In dates

- **1589–1614:** Reign of Man Singh I at Amber, the court that preceded
  Jaipur. Tradition says enamellers from Lahore came to Amber in his reign.
- **18th century:** Necklaces now in The Met, attributed to Jaipur, are
  enamelled on the back and set with stones on the front.
- **c. 1800–1850:** A turban ornament now in the V&A, London, probably from
  the Jaipur royal workshops. The museum notes Jaipur's fame for translucent
  enamels.
- **1879:** Ghuma Singh signs and dates an enamelled gold pendant, now at
  LACMA, Los Angeles: one of very few signed Jaipur pieces.
- **1884:** Designs for enamel by Ram Baksh of the Jaipur School of Art are
  published in the Journal of Indian Art, in an issue on the Jaipur Exhibition
  of 1883.
- **1982:** Kudrat Singh of Jaipur makes an enamellers' kiln, now in the V&A.
- **1988:** Kudrat Singh receives the Padma Shri for enamelling.
- **2022:** The Jewellers Artisan Association, Jaipur, applies for a
  Geographical Indication for “Kundan Meena Jewellery” (13 December).

### What is documented, and what is told

- **Told in Jaipur:** that the craft began when five Sikh enamellers from
  Lahore came to the court of Amber in the reign of Man Singh I. LACMA's
  catalogue repeats the story but doubts it.
- **Disputed:** where enamelling reached India from. It is most often traced
  to Persia by way of the Mughal court. Other accounts point to the Portuguese
  in Goa, or further back. None is settled.
- **Often repeated:** that red can be made only on gold. The sources say
  something narrower: red is the most difficult colour to achieve, and silver
  takes fewer colours than gold.

## One piece, several hands

Museum and craft records describe a chain of specialists, each with a name for
the work. The stages below follow that record, in the order MAP Academy gives
for kundan-meena work. One workshop may do several of them.

1. **Design** (*Naqqash, chitrakar*). A designer draws the piece and its
   pattern. Museum and craft records both start the chain here.
2. **Gold** (*Sonar*). A goldsmith makes the piece in gold.
3. **Engraving** (*Ghariya*). An engraver cuts hollows into the gold. The
   colour will sit in these, which is the technique called champlevé.
4. **Colour and firing** (*Meenakar*). The enameller lays colour into the
   hollows and fires the piece, once for each colour. Delhi documentation
   starts with the colour that best resists heat and gives a typical firing at
   about 850 °C.
5. **Cleaning**. The fired piece is cleaned. Accounts describe lemon and
   tamarind, or boiling in a mild acid to bring up the lustre.
6. **Setting** (*Jadai*). In kundan-meena work the stones are set last, on the
   front, with fine gold foil pressed around them.

### Where the accounts differ

- **Who does it:** The stages above are the traditional division of labour.
  LACMA describes nineteenth-century Jaipur enamelling as a hereditary trade
  carried on at home by family members, so one workshop could do several
  stages.
- **Order of colours:** Delhi documentation applies the most heat-resistant
  colour first. The Varanasi GI filing applies white first. Jaipur accounts
  vary.
- **Where colours come from:** Craft documentation from Delhi says colours are
  bought in Amritsar or imported from Germany or France.

## The meenakars

A *meenakar* is an enameller. The Lahore tradition speaks of Sikh enamellers,
and LACMA describes Ghuma Singh, who signed the 1879 pendant, as a Sikh
enameller from Jaipur. In the nineteenth century, LACMA notes, enamelling
there was a hereditary occupation carried on at home by members of one family.

In the twentieth century the record names Kudrat Singh. An enamellers' kiln he
made in 1982 is now in the V&A, which describes him as the surviving
traditional Jaipur enameller. He received the Padma Shri for enamelling in
1988.

The jewellers' association that applied for the GI is based on Chaura Rasta,
in the walled city. A master enameller interviewed by the jewellery export
council said the number of artisans is falling fast.

We found no count of meenakars working in Jaipur. This page does not yet carry
their own accounts: none has been recorded with consent.

### Named in the record

- **Ghuma Singh:** Signed and dated an enamelled pendant in 1879. LACMA
  describes him as an award-winning Sikh enameller from Jaipur.
- **Ram Baksh:** Of the Jaipur School of Art. His designs for enamel were
  published in 1884.
- **Kudrat Singh:** Made the enamellers' kiln of 1982 now in the V&A, which
  describes him as “the surviving traditional Jaipur enameller”. Padma Shri,
  1988.

## Telling enamel from paint

- **Fired glass, not paint.** Enamel is glass melted on to metal in a kiln. It
  is hard and glossy. Paint or lacquer is a different material, even when the
  colours look alike.
- **Colour in hollows.** In champlevé, the technique Jaipur enamellers are
  described as favouring, the colour sits in hollows engraved into the metal,
  with raised metal lines between colours.
- **Often on the back.** In Jaipur kundan jewellery the enamel is often on the
  reverse, behind the stones. Not always: 22-carat kundan work is described as
  having none.
- **Widest palette on gold.** Gold takes most colours. Silver takes fewer, and
  documentation names pink, green and blue.
- **It can chip.** Enamel is glass. A hard knock can crack or chip it.

### Meenakari beside related crafts

| Craft | What it is | Where it is from |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Meenakari | Enamel (coloured glass) fused into engraved metal | Jaipur, Rajasthan, among other centres |
| Kundan | Stones set in a gold mount with fine gold foil pressed around them | Often paired with meenakari in Jaipur jewellery |
| Thewa | 23-carat gold foil fused on to coloured glass | Pratapgarh, Rajasthan |
| Gulabi meenakari | Enamel in which a rose-pink dominates | Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh |
| Bidri | Silver inlaid into a dark metal alloy; not enamel | Bidar, Karnataka |
| Limoges enamel | Champlevé enamel on gilded copper: colour laid into hollows, as in meenakari, but on copper rather than gold | Limoges, France, in the 12th and 13th centuries |

### Buying and looking after it

- **Turn it over.** On kundan jewellery the enamel is often on the back,
  behind the stones, so look there. Fired enamel is hard and glossy and sits
  in hollows, with thin raised lines of metal between the colours. Not every
  piece has it: 22-carat kundan work is described as having none.
- **Ask what the metal is.** Gold, silver, copper or an alloy, and the purity
  in writing. The price of a piece depends on it.
- **Ask if the colour was fired.** If a listing says “hand-painted”, ask
  whether the colour is fired enamel or paint. A dealer's guide advises
  looking for signs that the enamel is not just a painted finish.
- **Hallmarks.** A BIS hallmark shows the purity of gold. Kundan, polki and
  jadau jewellery are exempt from mandatory hallmarking under guidelines of 24
  December 2021, so such a piece may not carry one. Other gold jewellery sold
  by a jeweller should be hallmarked. Either way, ask for the purity in
  writing.
- **Meenakari-style pieces.** Much jewellery sold as meenakari is plated alloy
  with enamel or paint, and glass stones. It can be good costume jewellery. It
  is not enamel on gold, and its price should reflect that.
- **Looking after it.** We found no care standard from a museum or craft body.
  General jewellers' advice: store pieces apart so the enamel is not knocked,
  and keep them away from perfume and chemicals.
- **What a GI would cover.** There is no registered GI for Jaipur meenakari
  yet. If the Kundan Meena Jewellery application is granted, it will protect
  the name and place, not certify each piece.

### Official recognition

**Geographical Indication applied for: Kundan Meena Jewellery.**

- **Application no.:** 1026
- **Class:** 14
- **Filed:** 13 December 2022
- **Applicant:** Jewellers Artisan Association, Chaura Rasta, Jaipur
- **Status:** Examination (not yet registered)

Related crafts with registered GIs: Thewa Art Work of Rajasthan (certificate
no. 210, 31 March 2014, valid to 16 October 2031) and Banaras Gulabi Meenakari
Craft of Uttar Pradesh (certificate dated 23 March 2015, as listed by the
Varanasi district administration). Register read on 14 October 2026. Source:
[GI
Registry](https://search.ipindia.gov.in/GIRPublicSearch/Application/Details/1026).

The national One District One Product portal lists gems and jewellery for
Jaipur district. Karigarh groups crafts by district in its [ODOP & GI
collection](https://www.karigarh.com/odop).

## Meenakari-style pieces at Karigarh

Pieces in the Karigarh catalogue with meenakari in their names: costume
jewellery and decorated brass and metal. Each listing states its materials.
None is listed as enamel on gold or silver, and some describe hand-painted
colour rather than fired enamel. If that matters to you, ask us before you
buy.

The page shows two of these pieces, photographed in the Karigarh showroom: a
meenakari-style necklace set (listed as gold-tone metal with enamel, glass
kundan stones and faux pearls) and a detail of meenakari-style jhumka earrings
(listed as metal alloy with enamel and glass beads).

- [Search the catalogue for
  meenakari](https://www.karigarh.com/products?search=meenakari)
- [All craft stories](https://www.karigarh.com/crafts)
- [Contact Karigarh](https://www.karigarh.com/ContactUs)

Prices include GST. Ships within India. See the [return
policy](https://www.karigarh.com/ReturnPolicy).

## Meenakari, briefly answered

### What is meenakari?

Meenakari is enamelling: glass coloured with metal oxides, fused on to metal
in a kiln. Jaipur enamellers are described as favouring champlevé, in which
the colour is laid into hollows engraved in the metal, and each colour is
fired in turn.

### Why is the enamel on the back of kundan jewellery?

In kundan jewellery the front is taken by stones set in gold foil, so the
enamel often decorates the reverse. A Met essay described the enamelled back
of one such necklace as “a private pleasure perhaps intended foremost for the
wearer's eyes”. Not every piece has it: 22-carat kundan work is described as
having no enamel on the back.

### Is meenakari done only on gold?

No. Gold is the traditional base and takes the widest range of colours. Silver
and copper are also enamelled. Silver is described as taking pink, green and
blue.

### Can red enamel be made only on gold?

That is often said, but the sources we checked say something narrower: red is
the most difficult colour to achieve, and silver takes fewer colours than
gold.

### How is meenakari different from kundan?

Kundan is a way of setting stones in a gold mount, with fine gold foil pressed
around them. Meenakari is enamel fused into the metal. Jaipur jewellery often
combines them, with kundan on the front and meenakari on the back.

### How is meenakari different from French enamel?

The best-known French enamel, from Limoges in the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries, is champlevé too: colour laid into hollows cut in the metal. The
difference is the base. Limoges enamellers worked on gilded copper; Jaipur
meenakari is traditionally on gold, which takes the widest range of colours.

### Who brought meenakari to Jaipur?

Tradition says five Sikh enamellers from Lahore came to the court of Amber in
the reign of Raja Man Singh I (1589–1614). LACMA's catalogue repeats the story
but doubts it. Jaipur enamel in museum collections dates from the eighteenth
century onwards.

### Does Jaipur meenakari have a GI tag?

Not yet. An application for “Kundan Meena Jewellery” was filed from Jaipur on
13 December 2022 (application no. 1026) and was under examination when we last
checked the register, on 14 October 2026.

### How can I tell enamel from paint?

Fired enamel is glass: hard, glossy and set into hollows in the metal. Paint
or lacquer sits on the surface. If a listing says “hand-painted”, ask whether
the colour was fired, and ask what the metal is.

### How do I look after meenakari jewellery?

We found no care standard from a museum or craft body. General jewellers'
advice is to store pieces apart so the enamel is not knocked, and to keep them
away from perfume and chemicals.

Written by Karigarh. Updated October 2026. Sources on request: [write to us](https://www.karigarh.com/ContactUs).