One of the exhibits in clay. Picture by Debashish Ray

Plastic has entered our lives in such a big way that it would not be an exaggeration to say that almost every other article we use every day is made of it. Even in India, where the crafts are still alive and keep renewing themselves to suit contemporary needs and tastes, plastic has all but replaced simple materials such as clay, metal alloys and jute – yesterday’s raw material.

This is the focus of the current exhibition at the State Archaeological Museum near the Behala tram depot. It demonstrates the diversity of materials and objects once produced for daily use at home. These include everything from implements of puja and for making paan, funerary figures, and utensils to objects meant for entertainment and for catering to minor vices such as smoking the hubble-bubble.

The most humble yet beautiful of exhibits is the nakshi katha -- an elaborately-embroidered wrap made of old saris once produced in every village home. There are plates, bowls and glasses of bell metal and silver. One missed the gadu without which the bogs were unthinkable. Colourful plastic versions of these are still popular in rural pockets and definitely Bangladesh. Colourful toys of lac and clay come in the forms of elephants, horses on wheels, quaint human beings wearing strange hats and palanquins.

The metal toys represent birds, owls, elephants, tiny equestrian figures, the most bizarre being a tiny tiger made of metal wire, apparently with a saddle on its back. There is no attempt at verisimilitude but something in their shapes is very true to life.

The 19th century puja implements were quite innovative. A stand for conch shells is surrounded by iconic heads of goddesses. The tiny spoons meant for ritually-purified water are still in use thousands of households. So are the thrones for deities and ornamental “footprints” that leave their imprint on the faces of devotees after a dip in a river. The small metal images of Hindu deities represent Krishna, Durga and Kali, while there is a largish likeness of Radha, an idealised form with limbs rounded to perfection.

Very curious is the icon of the “Bara”. Like Banbibi, it is a deity worshipped in South 24-Parganas by people who depend on the produce of the forest. It is pitcher stood on its head, saucer eyes painted on its voluminous surface and rimmed with a beard.

From the sublime to the quotidian – there are implements that were used in offices of yore and in the zenana. The paperweights are in the shape of double peacocks or elephants. The boxes and containers meant for preserving betel leaves and lime come in various shapes. One lime container is duck-shaped, while another has a lime applier chained to it.

There are some exquisitely carved ivory pieces, including a chess set. The most surprising is a representation of Sita imprisoned in Lanka with Hanuman, who has just arrived on the scene, all of it carved between two seashells. The two examples of the totemic brishokastho are, however, of a very inferior quality. So is the terracotta hut. The exhibition is on till May 24 between 11 am and 4 pm, when the day is at its hottest.