By Ines Keane
The first rule of a Madhubani painting, as the sources describe it, is that nothing is left blank. Fish, peacocks, flowers, geometric borders and figures are packed edge to edge, and the white paper or wall shows only as the line between them.
What goes into that fill is more specific than most pages bother to say. We found four sources that name materials, and they agree on more than they differ. Where they split, we show both.
Where the art comes from
Wikipedia says the painting is practised in the Mithila region of India and Nepal and named after Madhubani district in Bihar, where it originated and remains the most active centre. It adds a traditional origin story, which it reports as a story, that the first paintings were made at the birthplace of a mythic bride. We do not test the story and use it only as the article does, as a local account of where the art began.
The article also says wall painting was widespread, while painting on paper and canvas developed mainly in the villages around Madhubani. It lists Jitwarpur, Ranti and Rasidpur among the best-known places.
The earthquake story
Two sources date the outside world’s attention to the 1934 Bihar earthquake, and they tell it slightly differently. AIACA, the All India Artisans and Craftworkers Association, says British officials found the paintings on cracked walls. A coaching-site study note names an officer, W. G. Archer, posted in Madhubani for relief work, who found wall paintings exposed when plaster collapsed, photographed them, and whose wife Mildred Archer later wrote about them. Wikipedia, in the section we read, does not mention the earthquake.
Surfaces and tools
Wikipedia says the traditional surface was freshly plastered mud walls and floors, with cloth, handmade paper and canvas used now. It says paintings begin from a paste of powdered rice. Tools it lists: fingers, twigs, brushes, nib pens and matchsticks, with traditional brushes made of bamboo slivers, rags and sticks. The coaching note names bamboo sticks with frayed tips and a sharpened bamboo nib for fine outlines. AIACA says bold linework is made with twigs or nib pens, with double-line borders.
Colours, source by source
Wikipedia and the coaching note agree on much. Both give black from lamp soot mixed with cow dung, yellow from turmeric, green from bilva leaves, blue from indigo, orange from palash flowers and white from rice paste.
They split on red. Wikipedia says red comes from vermilion powder mixed with ground mustard seeds, and lists a separate Indian red from red clay. The coaching note says red comes from kusum flower or sandalwood. Both could be true of different painters or periods, and neither says. Our reading, not theirs.
They split again on the binder. Wikipedia says gum arabic for paper and goat’s milk mainly for wall painting. The coaching note says tree gum. Gum arabic is a tree gum, so these may simply be different levels of detail, but we leave the two statements as they stand.
Wikipedia adds that chemical powder pigments from Calcutta became available in the 1940s. AIACA says plant-based colours, turmeric, indigo and soot, and describes the palette as bright red, yellow, blue, green and black with earthy tones in traditional works. We cannot tell from the sources which colour on a given finished painting is natural and which is not.
Styles
Wikipedia lists five styles: Bharni, Kachni, Tantrik, Godna and Kohbar. It spells the last one Kohbar in the list and Khobar later in the text. The coaching note describes Bharni as filled colour and Kachni as line work with restrained colour. We have left out the detail attached to the others.
Subjects
Wikipedia says the themes include people and their connection to nature, scenes from ancient epics, the sun, the moon, the tulsi plant, royal courts and weddings, and ritual content for births, marriages and festivals. AIACA lists animals, peacocks, elephants and fish, geometric and floral borders and scenes of village life.
From walls to paper
Wikipedia says that in the 1960s painters began working on canvas and paper to create income for women in the region. It lists later exhibitions, including one at an Asian art museum in San Francisco in 2018, and says Japanese students bought Madhubani art on a trip in 1982, which led to a Madhubani museum in Tokamachi, Japan. It names several award-winners across the decades; we do not, because the lists in two of our sources disagree with each other and we cannot settle them.
The GI tag
AIACA says the craft holds a GI tag. Wikipedia says it has GI status and gives no date. The coaching note says 2007 under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999. The coaching note also contains an internal count error in its own award list, so we treat its year as a lead, not a fact. Our reading: a GI covers the name and place, not a particular material or a particular painter. None of our sources says what the register entry requires, and we did not find it.
How long a piece takes
AIACA says a piece takes 2 to 10 days and is made by one or two women artisans. It is a craft body’s overview, not a time study, and we offer the range as its claim.
Dates in order
- 1934: Bihar earthquake; paintings seen on exposed walls, according to AIACA and a coaching-site note.
- 1940s: chemical powder pigments reach the region from Calcutta, according to Wikipedia.
- 1960s: painters begin working on paper and canvas for income, according to Wikipedia.
- 1982: Japanese students buy work, leading to the Tokamachi museum, according to Wikipedia.
- 2007: GI registration, according to a coaching-site note only.
- 2018: Mithila art exhibit at an Asian art museum in San Francisco, according to Wikipedia.
Side by side
Wikipedia, AIACA and the coaching note share a palette of soot, turmeric, indigo, bilva leaf, palash flower and rice paste. They differ on red, on the binder and on whether the paintings reached the wider world through an officer’s photographs. The disagreements are small, and they are exactly the sort a buyer should keep in mind when a seller offers a single confident answer.
What kind of sources these are
Wikipedia is collaboratively edited and lists odd citation dates in this article. AIACA is a craft-sector body, and its page is part of a showcase, so it is promotional. The coaching-site note is study material for exam candidates and contains its own errors. We found no museum or government craft-survey source that we could open.
Quick answers
What colours are used in Madhubani painting? According to Wikipedia, traditional colours include black from lamp soot, yellow from turmeric, blue from indigo, orange from palash flowers and white from rice paste.
Does Madhubani painting have a GI tag? Yes. According to Wikipedia and AIACA, a craft body, it holds GI status. Only a coaching-site note gives a year, 2007, so we treat the date as unconfirmed.
What do Madhubani painters draw with? According to Wikipedia, tools include fingers, twigs, brushes, nib pens and matchsticks. A coaching-site note adds bamboo sticks with frayed tips and a sharpened bamboo nib.
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