Hunarmand

نقاشی · Papier-mâché / Naqashi

Noor Mohammad Wani

4th Generation · Papier-mâché / Naqashi · Nowhatta, Srinagar

1880+ · 4 gens

The only master to apply fourteen lacquer passes by hand — each rubbed dry before the next.

NW
Sanad Verified ✓
Pieces signed
244
Disputes
0
Workshop slots
5 open
Lineage est.
1880

The hand still remembers

What Only Noor Knows

Captured from his Vault — knowledge that exists nowhere else.

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Click a node — 4 techniques captured

Currently viewing · Layered Gold-Leaf Naqashi

His work

Pieces by Noor

Every piece signed, signed pieces verifiable on the Sanad.

Sit beside him

Book Time With Noor

5 open slots in the next month.

2–3 hours

Heritage Walk

Rs. 2,500per person

Visit the master's workshop and three nearby craft clusters with a Sanad-verified guide.

Max 8 participants

BaharGrismHarud
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4 hours

Half-Day Workshop

Rs. 6,000per person

Learn one foundational technique hands-on. Take home your attempt + a Hunarmand certificate.

Max 6 participants

BaharGrismHarudShishur
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3 days

Multi-Day Masterclass

Rs. 45,000per person

Advanced technique taught directly by the master. Limited to 2 participants.

Max 2 participants

HarudShishur
Book Now →

The preserved knowledge

Preserved in the Vault

This is Noor's Craft DNA — knowledge captured for researchers, apprentices, and future generations.

Lineage

Family · place · year

  • Trained under Hyderullah Wani (his great-uncle) and two Mughal-era family friends.
  • His son, twelve, sits at the side bench grinding pigment after school.

Technique Walkthrough

How the work is made

  • Lacquer is rubbed with cotton-on-walnut for twenty minutes per layer.
  • Boxes are kept in a glass cabinet between coats — no dust, no fly.

Decision Knowledge

When to start, when to stop

  • A piece with even one bubble is opened, scraped, and started again from layer one.
  • Customers wait nine months for a Wani box — there is no rush list.

Supplier Graph

Where the materials begin

  • Rice-straw pulp from a Pampore farmer.
  • Newsprint sourced from Lal Chowk, two cycles old.

The thread, generation by generation

The Wani Lineage

4 generations on the same craft, since 1880.

  1. AW

    Abdul Rahim Wani

    ca. 1880s

    Generation 1

  2. MW

    Mohammad Sultan Wani

    ca. 1910s

    Generation 2

  3. AW

    Abdul Ghaffar Wani

    ca. 1940s

    Generation 3

  4. NW

    Noor Mohammad Wani

    current — present

    Generation 4