The town of Sankheda, about 50 km from Vadodara, is renowned for its lacquerwork, which is a beautiful craft practiced on country wood. Sankheda’s art form is the perfect example of brilliant craftsmanship in terms of woodworking, woodturning and handpainting. This art is mostly practiced by the artisan community of Kharadi Suthars, who make colourful wooden furniture. The community prefers to use handheld tools and rather simple methods. The tradition of handpainted furniture in the region is said to have been in existence since the 1800s. Wooden blocks are turned on lathes (machines that rotate a workpiece about an axis to perform operations like cutting, sanding, drilling, etc.). The wooden piece is then shaved and smoothened for a rounded shape. Each piece is then painted in bright colours like vermillion and green and is mostly bordered by gold or silver hues. Simple and delicate floral patterns, peacock motifs and abstract drawings are used for decoration. A brush of very fine hair is used for the painting. When all the pieces are prepared, they are coated with lacquer and drilled to create space for tongue and groove and other joinery equipment. The pieces are then put together to create furniture that is simple yet stunning. Apart from furniture, lacquerwork is also used to make wooden temples.

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