Konkan on your shelf

Crab shell serving bowl

What comes to your mind when you hear the words, Konkan and Sahyadris? Amba peti, tender coconut, Mangalore tiles-roofed houses, diverse fauna and several shades of blue. These are some of the many visual takeaways that crafting studio Olee Maatee has translated into unique Konkan and Sahyadris-inspired lifestyle and home-décor products. Think ceramic dinnerware with chameleons and frogs perching on the edge; mini gahoo-nariyal and amba peti fridge magnets; and dainty Konkan hamlet-themed candle-holders.

Rickshaw coaster and Kamli wall hanging and rest

The two collections - Sahyadri Hues and From Konkan With Love - are hand-crafted by sculptors and artisans from Devrukh, in Ratnagiri. Pune-based Varun Pitre, CEO, Cufuka Craftworks Pvt Ltd, which owns the brand, shares that Olee Maatee is rooted in an initiative undertaken by the non-profit Pitre Foundation's Centre for Rural Entrepreneurship, Development and Research. "The idea was part of the foundation's larger objective to empower local people to become self-reliant, without needing to migrate to bigger cities," he explains. Olee Maatee, he says, refers to wet soil (in Marathi), a term his mother, paper-mâché artist Bharati Pitre, coined after she stepped in to provide design and aesthetic inputs to the team of craftspeople. "The term also expands to the idea of the brand being a fertile soil to harness talent and growth of a region," he adds.

Flat bowl with chameleon

From crab shell and tender coconut serving bowls, and bread and auto coasters, to lasoon-mirchi paperweights and coffee mugs in earthy hues, the collections blend nostalgic connotations from the Konkan coast and the Sahyadri range with utility. "These are influences that are a part of the everyday life of our artistes. At the same time, the products also appeal to a more contemporary aesthetic," Pitre muses.

Varun and Bharati Pitre

Most items have multiple uses. Our favourite, the floral saree-clad Kamli coaster doubles up as a wall hanging; the Konkan hamlet-inspired tea-light holders can also grace your bonsai collection; the Konkan meva toothpick holders might work as paperweights. Crafted using paper-mâché, ceramics and terracotta, they are a little slice of western Maharashtra on your shelf.

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