Skip to content
Nexware.
Luxury handicrafts · 10

Pichwai, Tanjore
& Miniature Painting

Pichwai, Tanjore, Madhubani and Rajasthani miniature work — the highest-value wall pieces in Indian craft, and the ones most often reproduced and sold as original.

Start a brief for this line The handicrafts wing
An artist hand-painting traditional folk art in Midnapore, India
What we buy

What we buy in this line

  • PichwaiLarge devotional cloth paintings, traditional and contemporary palettes.
  • Tanjore paintingsGesso relief with 22-carat gold foil and stone setting.
  • MadhubaniMithila line painting on paper, cloth and board.
  • Rajasthani miniaturesFine brush work on paper, board, silk and marble.
  • Contemporary adaptationsTraditional idiom worked to a supplied colourway or scale.
  • Framing and mountingStretched, mounted and framed for retail or interiors delivery.
Acceptance criteria

What we fix before a run starts

Hand-made goods are bought against an approved sample, not a drawing. That only works if what the sample is being judged on is written down before anyone starts.

SupportCloth, paper, board or marble, with the ground preparation named.
Pigment and mediumPigment type, binder and whether any of it is traditional.
GoldFor Tanjore, real foil or imitation, stated — the price difference is large.
Gesso reliefRelief height and profile, held against an approved sample.
LightfastnessFade expectation, since these hang on walls in daylight for years.
Edition and repeatabilityOriginal, edition or reproduction, and the permitted variation.
Attribution and rightsWho the artist is, and who owns the artwork and its reuse.

Every criterion above appears in the inspection report as a pass or a fail, with the measurement beside it. Where a criterion is a judgement rather than a number, the judgement is recorded against a retained physical sample.

Risk & compliance

What we screen before a sample is quoted

Print sold as hand-painted

Giclée prints hand-finished with a few brushstrokes and sold as original. Identified under magnification on the sample.

Imitation gold

Brass and imitation foil described as 22-carat in Tanjore work. Tested where the buyer is paying for gold.

Artist attribution

Workshop output sold under a named artist’s hand. Attribution is settled in writing before anything is marketed on that basis.

Cultural and rights sensitivity

Devotional imagery adapted for commercial décor deserves a deliberate decision, and the reuse rights need settling in the engagement agreement.

Where this is made

Clusters we work for this line

NathdwaraThanjavurMadhubaniUdaipurJaipur

Nathdwara is the Pichwai tradition and Thanjavur the Tanjore one. Both have deep workshop capacity and a wide quality range inside a single street.

Related lines

The other hand-made skills

Pashmina & Fine ShawlsHand-made Banarasi & Silk BrocadeHand-made Patola, Muga & HandloomHand-made Kalamkari & Hand-Printed TextilesHand-made Chikankari & ZardoziHand-made Bidriware & DhokraHand-made Temple Bronze & BrasswareHand-made Meenakari, Thewa & KundanHand-made Jaipur Blue PotteryHand-made Papier-Mâché, Lacquer & WoodHand-made Kashmiri Carpets & RugsHand-made

Send us the sample. We will tell you honestly.

Whether we can source it well in India, what it should cost, and what could go wrong — before you commit to anything.

Start a brief