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Bronze pendant Location: West Bengal, East Burdwan Age: Contemporary Composite: Bronze Collected by: Jackal

There is a rich history of metalwork in India which was once in demand as far West as Egypt and as far East as Shanghai and this demand ended only after centuries of systematic disenfranchisement by the Colonial British occupation. Today few artisans continue to follow the traditional technology. One of them is Dhanuda, who is a sculptor, metal worker and terracotta artist preserving this tradition while exploring various artistic influences inc. Egyptian and European motifs. His studio can be found on google maps under the name: Sristighar.

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Petrified Wood Branch Location: West Bengal, Birbhum Age: 15 – 20 million years old Composite: Calcified Euphorbiaceous wood Collected by: Jackal

Although West Bengal is a region seeped in ancient history yet it holds very little in the way of historic evidence due to the alluvial floods of the Ganga river that wash over the plains, lack of any mountainous regions, and continuos paddy cultivation for many thousands of years. This petrified wood, which was apparently part of a forest in the Rajmahal Hills and Chotonagpur, was deposited by floodwaters into the Birbhum region sometime in the Miocene era and is found in abundance in the area. Recent studies have found remains of Neolithic stone tools made from fossilized wood in the region.