Kuprkabi Ceramic Design Studio

Kup means cup and Rakabi means saucer in Gujarathi (a language spoken in Gujarat, a western state of India). Ceramic products, handcrafted decorative items, terracotta dolls, ceramic lamps, Cup and Saucer are the basic products used by everyone all over the world. These are also the basic product line manufactured by all studio potters. The name also sounds very Sanskrit. Kuprkabi has developed a wide and exclusive product range of its own. Some of these products are in international museums and have won critical acclaim across the world. These exclusive items are available only at Kuprkabi studio and select shops in the city of Mumbai.

Kuprkabi has developed a wide product range of Custom Designed Products. These can be broadly categorized as

• Interiors: Terracotta-screens, tiles, mirrors, murals
• Gift items: Ganapati-idols, candle-stands, mugs, key chains
• Table tops: Pen - stand (tessalated), terracotta-fountain, vases
• Festival range: X'mas hangings, diyas, agarbatti-stands
• Illumination: bamboo-leather lamp, hanging bamboo lamps
• Miniature ceramics: Magnet chappals, coasters, toys 

Some of these products are in international museums and have won critical acclaim across the world. These exclusive items are available only at Kuprkabi studio and select shops in the city of Mumbai. Each piece is handcrafted and finished in the studio.

With our creative abilities, we have been able to design unique masterpieces for our esteemed clients. Our products are available in major retail stores of Mumbai. Apart from that, we have been associated with various business entities and have enjoyed a wide client base across the country. We have successfully handled projects for our following clients:

 

• Fab-India
• Amar Chand Mangaldas
• IIT Mumbai − Industrial Design Center
• J. C College, Mumbai
• N. M College, Mumbai
• Crisil India
• Birla Academy
• NMIMS

 

However, we also have a list of clients attending our workshops on pottery making. Our clients include people from different backgrounds that include the corporate sector, summer projects for children, college students and people who look for a material specific hobby.

The workshops introduce participants to the age old material clay which is a rewarding experience of interaction with clay. It is about the responsiveness one feels at the slightest touch when clay is held in one′s hand. The urge is to go further to exlpore to try out possibilities of this fascinating material. Workshops with artisans and crafts people from different backgrounds who have varied skills, eg. Bamboo work, terracota, cold ceramics, zari-zardozi embroidery, dari weaving etc. are undertaken as part of NGO activities held in their respective communities in various parts of the country. These crafts people are associated with the studio by doing job-work, in return for marketing, promoting and positioning of their products in the domestic and international markets. By adopting these traditional crafts, the veranacular designs get incorporated into products which find place in urban lifestyles today.

Kuprkabi is the brainchild of Vanmala Jain, a Graduate of National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, India, with a specialization in Ceramics. Over the years she has been teaching at premier institutions of India, such as:

• IIT, Mumbai, (1995 − 2003)
• SNDT, Mumbai (1987 − 1994)
• JJ School of Art, Mumbai (1986 − 1993) .