01 — OUR STORY
A Legacy of Art & Craft
IndianArtButton is the art design studio of Natesan’s Antiqarts (Mumbai) P Ltd.
The Company’s humble journey began in 1930 in erstwhile Travancore with the founder receiving two rupees as seed capital from a renowned mystic. Begins by making fancy ivory buttons for visiting tourists.
Over the years, the business transformed into the principal maker of the finest ivory figurines in the country. Following the ban on ivory, the master carvers were moved to sandalwood and yet later, to hard timber. Today, the Company continues to employ third-generation master craftsmen across wood, metal and stone.
The primary business of the parent Company remains antiquities. It continues to play a lead role in the organised trade of Indian antiquities in India and holds Mumbai’s oldest antique dealer’s licence. This close association with great historic art makes the Company set very high standards at IndianArtButton as well.
02 — THE MAKING
The Art of Craftsmanship
The reason for the high quality of craftmanship lies in the teamwork. A typical wooden sculpture would need a team of seven specialized people to create. Ideas are still conceived by the third generation of the founding family. An artist then makes a render which is then edited to achieve the visualization. The work then commences with rough cutting. Once the form takes shape the finishing carver steps in to achieve the intricate details. The specialized face carver works only on faces. After surface finishing, the in-house artist begins work on the colour finish.
03 — OUR DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
Art for the Contemporary Home
Some of the designs draw directly from ancient masterpieces, while others bring together elements from different traditions. Apart from the traditional, the range also includes objects with an antique and rustic finish which seamlessly blends with ultra-modern interiors, apart from a selection of contemporary designs for those who prefer the bare minimal.
Unlike global art brands, artefacts designed at IndianArtButton are produced in minuscule numbers, making them rare and distinctive collectibles.
Art objects convert a house into a home. It reflects the taste and sensibilities of those who live in it, while often becoming a natural starting point of conversation for visitors. Minus the artefacts, a fancy home would look just like a swanky hotel lobby with no individuality or owner reflection.
Traditional crafts have long been valued far below contemporary Indian art. As younger generations of traditional carvers increasingly move towards white collar professions, the number of skilled craftsmen steadily declines. This scarcity is, in turn, bringing renewed appreciation and value to traditional craftsmanship making them desirable objects to acquire and cherish.
