We, as material, are an insight into the technical prowess and changing tastes of a time. Different technologies co-exist and each one’s role is routinely negotiated based on utility – and perceived value. As Dr. Jyotindra Jain succinctly observes, in an ancient time culture like India, “one comes across earlier and later elements that have not only survived side by side but have influenced one another.”

Evolution is more of a gradual process, where new materials initially imitate pre-existing prototypes, creating interesting hybrids. While some of these transitional forms are adapted and absorbed, others are discarded over time. India’s story begins with terracotta that defines the material culture of Harappan times. Excavated utensils suggest sophisticated craftsmanship and a keen sense of design. The dominance of metals follows in the next age and extends right up to the modern era. Besides durability, copper, bronze, brass and silver were appreciated for their nutrition-enhancing qualities. While the former were used by all, silver was reserved for the rich and shared its prestigious status with porcelain and bone china that reached Indian shores through trade in the late medieval period.

Stainless steel, heralds a new direction for the Indian kitchen. Factory-produced, it marks a sharp break from all pre-industrial practices. As the country’s consumer-class gains ground by the 1970s, their aspirations grow away from socialist ideals; and this gets mirrored in the increasing popularity of plastic. Presently, with nearly a generation of stable economic growth, the Indian kitchen once again casts a confident glance inward – and traditional materials see a proud resurgence alongside glass, chinaware and other material that suit to modern appliances.

You could say, we are shaped and perfected by collective need but in turn, we dictate habits and living practices – intertwining man and material into a circle of symbiosis. The two constantly inform and reinvent one another such that the hierarchy between people and us, that is to say, subject and object are often blurred.