The Sunar makes all kinds of ornaments of gold and silver, being
usually supplied with the metal by his customers. He is paid according
to the weight of metal used, the rate varying from four annas to
two rupees with an average of a rupee per tola weight of metal for
gold, and from one to two annas per tola weight of silver. [643]
The lowness of these rates is astonishing when compared with those
charged by European jewellers, being less than 10 per cent on the
value of the metal for quite delicate ornaments. The reason is
partly that ornaments are widely regarded as a means for the safe
keeping of money, and to spend a large sum on the goldsmith's labour
would defeat this end, as it would be lost on the reconversion of
the ornaments into cash. Articles of elaborate workmanship are also
easily injured when worn by women who have to labour in the fields or
at home. These considerations have probably retarded the development
of the goldsmith's art, except in a few isolated localities where it
may have had the patronage of native courts, and they account for the
often clumsy form and workmanship of his ornaments. The value set
on the products of skilled artisans in early times is nevertheless
shown by the statement in M'Crindle's _Ancient India_ that any one
who caused an artisan to lose the use of an eye or a hand was put to
death. [644] In England the jeweller's profit on his wares is from 33
to 50 per cent or more, in which, of course, allowance is made for the
large amount of capital locked up in them and the time they may remain
on his hands. But the difference in rates is nevertheless striking,
and allowance must be made for it in considering the bad reputation
which the Sunar has for mixing alloy with the metal. Gold ornaments
are simply hammered or punched into shape or rudely engraved, and are
practically never cast or moulded. They are often made hollow from
thin plate or leaf, the interior being filled up with lac. Silver ones
are commonly cast in Saugor and Jubbulpore, but rarely elsewhere. The
Sunar's trade appears now to be fairly prosperous, but during the
famines it was greatly depressed and many members of the caste took
to other occupations. Many Sunars make small articles of brass, such
as chains, bells and little boxes. Others have become cultivators
and drive the plough themselves, a practice which has the effect of
spoiling their hands, and also prevents them from giving their sons
a proper training. To be a good Sunar the hands must be trained from
early youth to acquire the necessary delicacy of touch. The Sunar's
son sits all day with his father watching him work and handling the
ornaments. Formerly the Sunar never touched a plough. Like the Pekin
ivory painter--
From early dawn he works;
And all day long, and when night comes the lamp
Lights up his studious forehead and thin hands.