Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4.djvu/124

KUMMARA, KUMBARA, KUMBARO early Mysore Rājas. Such is the story current among the potters, who generally believe that they are his progeny. They all live in a state of poverty and ignorance, and are considered of a low rank among other Sūdras."

At the village of Karigeri in the North Arcot district, there is carried on by some of the local potters an interesting industry in the manufacture of ornamental pottery, for which a medal was awarded at the Delhi Darbar Exhibition. "The soft pottery," Surgeon-General G.Bidie writes, "receives a pretty green glaze, and is made into vases and other receptacles, some of which are imitations of Delft ware and other European manufactures of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; patterns having been introduced by Collectors.* Some of the water-bottles are double, the outer shell being pierced so as to allow air to circulate around the inner." The history of this little industry is, I gather, as follows.† *' Mr. Robinson, a Collector in the sixties of the last century, started the manufacture of tea-pots, milk jugs, and sugar bowls with a dark green glaze, but his dream of supplying all India with chota hazri (early tea) sets was not realised. Then came Mr.Whiteside, and the small Grecian vases and the like are due to his and Mrs.Barlow's influence. He had accurate wooden models made by his well-known wood-carvers. He further altered the by no means pretty green glaze, and reddish browns and yellows were produced. Then came Mr.Stuart, who pushed the sale at exhibitions and railway stations. He also gave the potters models of fancy flower-pots for in-door use. The pottery is exceedingly fragile, and unsuitable for rough usage. Unglazed water