The curious case of ivory buttons

What started with the sale of ivory buttons 81 years ago has grown into a well-known antiques store that has a permanent spot in the basement of Jehangir Art Gallery at Kala Ghoda

Even with a dead mouse, an enterprising fellow could build a fortune," says the King's advisor to his companions in The Mouse Merchant, a Jataka tale. A passerby who overhears the wise man takes his advice seriously, and manages to sell a dead mouse to a merchant with a hungry cat, later investing his earnings in sweets, then getting into the trade of flowers and so on.. till he ends up marrying the royal advisor's daughter and succeeding him as royal adviser.


The bull that stands right outside Natesan's office is a typical example
of Mysore's ancient folk art in which brightly-painted animals often make
an appearance.

Though far simpler, the story of Thatchakudy Neelakantan Natesan, artist and founder of Natesan's Antiques, is just as wonderful.

"Back in the 1930s when he took on odd jobs in Trivandrum, my grandfather approached a well-known guru for a contribution," narrates the 36 year-old owner of antiques store Natesan's, admitting that the initial amount of Rs 4 the spiritual man gave his ancestor literally evaporated because, "Ivory is a tricky material -- you buy it whole but only discover whether it's usable once you've cut it."
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Determined to carve ivory buttons, his grandfather procured another grant of Rs 2, which did pay off. "He peddled the buttons in Kodaikanal, and never looked back."

The next step was handicrafts and then, about 60 years ago, in response to a customer demand, Natesan got into the antique business in Trivandrum, setting up this store at Mumbai's iconic Jehangir Art Gallery only in 1963.

"Ivory sculptures were our speciality before the ban," Natesan reveals, drawing our attention to a range of intricately-carved sandalwood reproductions of their old ivory designs. They now create antique-finish wooden replicas of even Chola-dynasty bronzes. Scales are clearly visible on the snake wrapped around Shiva's neck in one incredibly detailed figure (Rs 40,000) and just as clearly-defined are the spots on the leopard skin he sits on.

In what seems to be a divergence from the normal sandalwood sculpting style, a figurine of a lady carrying a pot has a certain softness in its detail (Rs 32,500), which Natesan attributes to the fact that, "She's just an ordinary village woman...Gods are crafted more elaborately."

Nearby, an imposing 9th century Mahavira stone sculpture from the Chalukya dynasty is one of the store's prized pieces.

How does one pin-point sculptures to specific eras? "It takes years of experience but artistic styles are generally dynasty-specific, and obvious to the trained eye. Sometimes though, even within a dynasty, a different generation would have favoured a different sculpting style," he explains.u00a0

Observing our interest in a grinning bull right outside his office, he says it's a typical example of Mysore's ancient folk-art in which brightly-painted animals often make an appearance.

The store also has a range of house-shaped wooden dowry boxes, both antique and replicas. "Traditionally, in Kerala, these boxes that represented the bride's new home, were filled with jewellery and gifted to brides or their in-laws as part of the dowry. Today, you could gift these to newly-weds or use to store keepsakes." A hand-painted 14 inch replica (Rs 5,800) has brass details that include the traditional auspicious lit-lamp at the front of the box, and more modern heart-shaped embellishments around its corners.

Prices for most antiques start at Rs 40,000. The antique-finish replicas of Chola bronzes are priced between Rs 5,800 and Rs 1,65,000

At: Natesan's Antiques, basement of Jehangir Art Gallery, Kala Ghoda. Branch at Taj Mahal Hotel Arcade, Apollo Bunder. Call: 22852700