On a Platter

If she was recently in Mumbai,raising funds to rescue carriage horses through the sale of lithographs,the next couple of days will see Maneka Gandhi introduce pottery to art aficionados in the Capital.

Written by Vandana Kalra
August 13, 2012 03:03 AM IST

2 min read

If she was recently in Mumbai,raising funds to rescue carriage horses through the sale of lithographs,the next couple of days will see Maneka Gandhi introduce pottery to art aficionados in the Capital. Hundred and eighty- seven platters will comprise her annual fundraiser,through which she hopes to raise funds for various hospitals run by her organisation,People for Animals. We need money all the time, she notes,pointing out that this is one of the five auctions planned for 2012. With the sale of pottery,she hopes to garner over Rs 60 lakh.

From her Ashoka Road residence,the commissioned platters will be transported to The Lalit for a three-day exhibition that will begin on August 17. Each platter is over 18 inches in diameter and therefore rare,since making such huge platters requires a lot of effort. Potters do not experiment with this size too often due to the fear of destroying them in the furnace, says Gandhi,who approached artists across India for the collection in January. Several other artists had agreed to participate but they backed out because the process was challenging; platters used to break while in the making, says Gandhi,holding an Abhay Pandit platter in blue,priced Rs 16,000. These are collectors items and the prices have been kept very reasonable. We want people to look at these as assets,whose value will increase in the next couple of years, says Gandhi. So the prices range from Rs 15,000 to Rs 1.27 lakh for a Yogesh Mahida piece. Its a steal; normally he prices his work for much more. We even have Kristine Michael platters for Rs 20,000, adds Gandhi. Some of the platters might make it to her art collection too. I might indulge myself, says she.