Etikoppaka lacquer-coated toys – Not just a child’s plaything

Etikoppaka is a small hamlet situated at the banks of River Varaha in Andhra Pradesh which is widely fabled for its alluring craft of making lacquer-coated wooden toys, these toys were given the tag of geographical identification few years back. The art has been in practise for a long time in the village.

Softer wood is used to make these toys and the art of toy-making is also called turned wood lacquer craft. The artists use a colourless resinous secretion of several insects, known as lac. The lac is mixed with vegetable dyes during the oxidation of the toys to give them charming colors.

Recently Toymaker CV Raju is hailed by the Prime Minister for his endeavours towards keeping such a unique and fascinating art alive, in his address PM emphasised the need to embolden the Domestic toymakers as industry is facing the worst economic crisis due to global lockdown. Marketing and sales have been affected as there were no postal and courier services during the lockdown even e-commerce portals are hardly working up to their capacity, the straight- jacket approach for documentation and clearance of consignment adopted by US and Europe during lockdown are further constraints in the revenues of exporters.