Menu
Museum of Material Memory
  • Home
  • About
    • The Museum
    • The Founders
  • Contribute
    • Submission Form
  • Explore
    • Art & Decor
    • Books
    • Documents & Maps
    • Heirlooms & Collectibles
    • Household Items
    • Jewellery
    • Photo Archives
  • Contact
A royal horseshoe and a family’s lineage
November 20, 2017November 20, 2017

A royal horseshoe and a family’s lineage

The Test of Time
November 27, 2017January 7, 2018

The Test of Time

The spared pair of payal
May 11, 2017September 17, 2017

The spared pair of payal

April 26, 2018

The sea of silver

A collection of one rupee coins from 1904-1947, belonging to Bhag Malhotra

I come in and sit down on the cane chair next to her bed. She is singling out the larger silver coins and laying them in a line, chronologically. The collection begins from the year 1904 and ends at a coin from Independence, 1947.

Continue Reading
A Bagh hand-stitched by Ishar Kaur (b. 1908, Rawalpindi)

Spreads of baagh and phulkari – an amaanat

These chaddars had been embroidered by Biji, my great grandmother, Ishar Kaur, for her own trousseau probably some time in the early 1920s. Often, women of those times would collect or make such items for their trousseau – handcrafted or embroidered cloth  –  which later could be used to make several smaller items like dupattas, rumaaley, tablecloths and bedsheets.

Continue Reading

A story told with teacups

This particular tea set belonged to my grandmother’s sister-in-law, Padma, known to the family as Paddi, who bought it from Banaras sometime in the 1950’s for 14 rupees. Perhaps it was made in Banaras, or elsewhere. One will never know, as there are no legible markings or etchings on it.

Continue Reading
The letter from Ceylon

News from Ceylon: 1942

This letter dated 28 October, 1942 made its way from Ceylon to Thrissur. It is written by my grandfather and speaks mainly of family matters and describes his life in Ceylon. My nanaji, like many other migrant workers, stayed and worked at the plantations for 7-8 years to support his family.

Continue Reading
Detail of Tejwati Sekseria's ghagri

Heirloom of silk and silver

This type of ghagra or popularly known as ghagri, is typically found among families belonging to the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan. This ghaghri was my great-grandmother, Tejwati Sekseria’s.

Continue Reading

Posts navigation

Page 1 Page 2 … Page 6 Next page

About

The Museum of Material Memory is a digital repository of material culture of the Indian subcontinent, tracing family history and social ethnography through heirlooms, collectibles and objects of antiquity.

Through storytelling, each post on the Archive reveals not just a history of objects and the people they belong to, but also unfolds generational narratives about the tradition, culture, customs, conventions, habits, language, society, geography and history of the vast and diverse subcontinent.

    FOLLOW US


© 2017 Museum of Material Memory. All Rights Reserved. Terms and Conditions. Privacy Policy.