Andretta Pottery Studio and Craft Society date back to as far as 1985. The love for pottery that led to the creation of Andretta Pottery Studio’s legacy.
NORAH RICHARDS
Sometime in the 1920’s, when the British Empire was in its days of decline, a young Irish women named Norah Richards arrived in Andretta Village. A dramatist and environmentalist lived in the village for 30 years, through the time of partition until her death in 1970.
As she was a dramatist some of her plays were translated to Punjabi which then inspired the Punjab government to ask her to hold theatre workshops. In her house she had an amphitheatre where she conducted plays and had her workshops. It was later she became known as the grand mother of Punjabi theatre.
During the time of Norah, there were vibrant discussions about art, drama and the philosophy of living in a rural environment. Her ideas were very sound on how one should live in the countryside, using local materials for building houses, how you should live in harmony with nature and encourage local people to do the same. She also called Sadar Gurcharan Singh the master potter from Delhi to create a small pottery studio for summer use in Andretta.
Much later on when his son Mansimran Singh moved to Andretta having managed to get a grant from central Delhi Government to form a rural marketing centre. This started functioning in 1985 and it encompassed theAndretta Pottery and Craft Society here which is now run by Mansimsingh & Mary Singh (Mini and Mary).
SARDAR GURUCHARAN SINGH
The Andretta Pottery Studio and Craft Society dates back to as far as 1983. The love for pottery that led to the creation of Andretta studio was a result of much earlier efforts of Padma Shri Sardar Gurucharan Singh Father of studio pottery in India. This love found its roots by accident! Between 1925 and 1929 Gurcharan Singh worked with his father’s friend Sardar Ram Singh Kabuli at Delhi Pottries where tiles, bricks, pots, and molded pottery were being made.Ram Singh Kabli sent him to Japan for further studies in commercial ceramics. However Gurcharan Singh Ji fell in love with studio pottery when he visited the Japanese potters in the country side. On return from Japan he married Ram Singh Kabulis adopted daughter. In 1929 Gurcharan Singh bought some land near Dehi Pottries work and build a house there.He was a founder member of the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS) by 1927. Post this, he was unstoppable in spreading the love for pottery.
He was head of the Government Pottery Institute at Ambala for a long time. Afterwards, he started the Delhi Blue Art Pottery. Which is now known as the Delhi Blue. In 1974 Gurucharan Singh got awarded the Sahitya Kala Parishad’s best artist award. Followed by the Padmashree in 1991, one of the most honorable awards in India. He also authored Pottery in India, published in 1979.
