Three silver-tone brass lota painted with red leaf vines, largest to smallest on a wooden tray - Peetal Parampara

Hand Painted Brass Lota with Tray, Set of 3

Rs. 2,399.00

Hand Painted Brass Lota with Tray, Set of 3

Name: Hand Painted Brass Lota with Tray, Set of 3
Brand: PEETAL PARAMPARA
SKU: PP-BR-POO-LOT-067
Price: 2399.0 INR
Availability: InStock

Three brass lota in graduated sizes, hand painted over a silver-tone body.

Rs. 2,399.00

Price includes GST.

Weight: 1,500g

Material: Brass with a silver-tone finish, wooden tray
Finish: Hand painted
Quantity: Three lota in graduated sizes, one tray
Use: Carrying and pouring water through a pooja, and standing on the mandir shelf between rites

In the box

1 large brass lota
1 medium brass lota
1 small brass lota
1 wooden tray

Check delivery to your PIN code

Estimated, not a guarantee. Dispatched from Guwahati, Monday to Saturday.

Each piece is shaped and finished by hand, so small differences in weight, size, finish and surface marking are normal and no two are identical. Colour on screen can differ from the metal in daylight. Handmade in India.

The three sit on a wooden tray with the grain running the long way and one dark knot near the left edge. Each body is worked to a white silver tone and then painted, red and orange leaf shapes on a vine that runs right round the belly over a cross-hatched ground. Three turned bands cut through the pattern at the waist. The flared mouths and the insides are left plain brass.

Technique

Hand Painted

What is it?

A lota is the small round-bellied vessel with a flared mouth that carries and pours water through a pooja, filled at the start of the rite and set beside the thali.

Also known as a gadva, tambya, pooja water pot, pital lota or kalash lota.

What is in the box?

1 large brass lota
1 medium brass lota
1 small brass lota
1 wooden tray

How do I look after it?

Wipe with a soft dry cloth. For marks, a barely damp cloth and nothing else. Dry it straight away.
The colour is a surface layer over the metal. Lemon, salt, tamarind and brass polish all lift it — the same things that bring bare brass back to a shine will take the pattern off this piece. Keep them away from the painted areas.
Any bare brass on the foot, rim or underside can be cleaned the normal way with lemon and salt. Work around the colour, not over it.
Do not soak it, do not scrub it, and keep steel wool and scouring pads away from it entirely.
Not dishwasher safe. Not microwave safe.
Keep it out of long direct sunlight. Applied colour fades where bare brass would only darken.

How was it made?

Hand Painted

Handmade in India

Every piece finished by hand

Solid metal

No plating, nothing to chip

Weighed and listed

In grams, on almost every page

Tin lining stated

Where a vessel is lined, we say so

Questions about this piece

Is this brass solid or plated?

The bodies are brass and the set weighs 1,500 g. The white on the outside is a silver-tone finish laid over that brass, and the flared mouths and the insides are left bare so the metal underneath shows.

Will it look exactly like the photograph?

No. The vine and the leaves are painted by hand, so the spacing of the motifs and the exact reds shift from one lota to the next, and the wooden tray takes its grain from the board it was cut from.

Is this the same as a kalash?

No. A kalash is the round pot set at the centre of a rite with its neck dressed in leaves. A lota is the working vessel beside it, filled and poured through the pooja.

How do I clean it after pooja?

Wipe the painted bellies with a dry cloth only. Water and any polish will lift the colour. Rinse the plain brass mouths and insides, dry them, and keep the wooden tray away from a wet sponge.

How many do I need?

The three work as one set, largest to smallest, and cover water, milk and a spare through a single pooja. A second set earns its place only when a second mandir is being set up.