Gaja - Black Terracotta Elephant Incense Dish

The Gaja works as a daily incense holder & the dish surface catches ash cleanly. Beyond incense, it serves equally well as a ring dish, a tray for a single candle, or a vessel for a few dried petals.

It sits naturally on a bathroom shelf, a meditation corner, a kitchen windowsill, or a bedside table. The loop handle means it can be lifted and moved easily. A functional object that happens to be beautiful - the Sawaii tradition's most consistent achievement.

Material: Black terracotta (smoke-fired)
Dimensions: 8 in length × 4.5 in height
Finish: Natural smoke-fired black, no paint or dye
Care: Wipe with dry or barely damp cloth.
Ships worldwide from Chennai, India.

The Gaja is hand-built from black terracotta clay. The dish body is shaped first, then the elephant head, trunk, ears, and tusks are modelled separately and joined before firing. The surface of the dish is etched with the Sawaii potter's characteristic radiating line pattern; the elephant's face and ears carry dot and arc ornamentation. The piece is smoke-fired in rice husk for the natural black finish.

When a stick of incense is placed in the central well, the ash falls across the etched surface of the dish. The object is designed to be used.

Sawai Madhopur district sits at the edge of the Ranthambore forest in eastern Rajasthan, the homeland of one of India's most quietly extraordinary craft traditions. Sawaii potters have worked this black clay for generations, hand-shaping and hand-etching figures that carry the region's mythological imagination: animals, deities, and the creatures that blur the line between the two.