Some Fine Handicrafts (SFH) is an endeavour that primarily works towards preserving and promoting India’s traditional art and craft. It has fulfilled this goal by creating a wide range of hand-made, innovative, and decorative utilitarian wooden products each of which incorporates an art or craft form. In fact, SFH is the pioneer in this field. All SFH products are made using teak wood, compressed pinewood sheets and glass. The wood is hand carved to encase a design and then covered with a glass panel. Currently, SFH products cover 13 distinct art and craft forms: Applique work, Bastar tribal iron work, Gond tribal art, Hand-made tile work, Jaali stone work, Kundan zardozi work, Leather painting, Marble inlay work, Mithila art, Pattachitra art, Sanjhi art, Saura tribal art and Warli tribal art. SFH’s wood-based products use authentic Indian art or craft to enhance their beauty. Thus, each SFH product combines genuine art and craft with the finest quality and workmanship. As SFH is a fairly small venture that cannot afford expensive advertising, it has been mainly dependent on word-of-mouth publicity. Despite this limitation, SFH has succeeded in acquiring a loyal client base and maintaining its growth trajectory on account of the reasonable prices and overall excellence of its product line. However, now SFH seeks to gain newer clients by entering the online market space.

Inception

SFH began its journey in 2010 when Ramachandran Nair, its founder, decided to establish his own enterprise in Delhi to foster his passion for India’s rich art and craft heritage. Prior to setting up SFH in 2010, Nair had gathered extensive experience in Indian art and craft in the course of his 20-year-long work in this arena. This had involved travelling the length and breadth of India to identify artisans and craftpersons who were masters of their respective domains. His work had also involved collecting artisans or craftpersons of a particular discipline and providing them with specialized and modern training to better their skills and efficiency.

Onward Growth

In the process of providing training, as Nair had himself mastered kundan zardozi art, SFH began with Nair working only on kundan zardozi. Gradually, over time, Nair added other art and craft forms by recruiting skilled artisans and craftpersons. Most of SFH’s artisans/craftpersons are uneducated rural women who work from the comfort of their homes. Following rigorous training conducted by Nair in their respective specialities, they further work on designs created by Nair, thereby ensuring the uniqueness of all SFH art and craft forms. Providing its women artisans/craftpersons with opportunities to earn their livelihoods alongside discharging their household duties has enabled SFH to fulfil one of its major goals, that of empowering its women employees. Meanwhile, SFH also remains committed towards helping all its workers gain complete financial independence. Besides its rural workforce that creates custom-made designs, skilled artisans work on wood to integrate these designs into superbly finished wooden products in the SFH workshop under Nair’s direct guidance. Further, SFH uses only termite-treated and seasoned wood for all its products. As each wood-based SFH product undergoes stringent quality control checks, no water or dust ever enters a glass-covered design of say a tray or a coaster. SFH prides itself on the durability and easy maintenance of each of its well-crafted products.

Future Path

In an effort to add to SFH’s product repertoire, Nair is engaged in identifying and recruiting artisans/craftpersons who practice other less popular yet exceptional Indian art/craft forms. Thus, SFH hopes to scale new horizons by including exciting additions to its product range. In the meanwhile, the SFH workshop continues to produce goods that reflect the timeless beauty of traditional Indian art and craft, which in turn has won SFH the trust and respect of its valued clients. SFH wishes to assure its clients, both present and future, that by consistently offering value for money and maintaining the highest quality standards, each hand-crafted SFH product, to paraphrase Keats, will always be a thing of beauty and a joy forever.