Singular, special & exclusive artisan creations
Welcome to Birch & Loom; your destination for beautiful textiles, handcrafted homewares and original accessories. All our products are sourced directly from the artisans who make them in India and South East Asia. In doing so we support their financial independence as well as helping to preserve traditional creative techniques which are at risk of disappearing.
Rogan Art
There is only one place in the world where rogan art is practiced, and that is in the sleepy town of Narona in Gujarat, in India’s isolated northwest. Isolated it may be, but the fame of the rogan practitioners has spread far and wide, so much so, that a rogan work was selected by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to present to Barack Obama on the occasion of his visit to the United States in 2014.
THE JOURNAL
The Best Chai – Here’s How
On a recent visit to Jaipur, I was given meticulous instructions as to how to make authentic Indian chai. None of this tea bag stuff, loaded with cinnamon! Cardamom is the key ingredient and needs to be boiled into the milk and sugar. Even though sweet coffee or tea is usually unpalatable to me, this…
The Royal Weave
Jamdani is an exquisite weaving technique originating from Dhaka, now in Bangladesh, and parts of West Bengal. So fine were the fabrics, and so delicate the woven embellishments, that it has been long been associated with royalty, both Indian and British. The jamdani technique is one of the most time consuming and labour intensive forms…