It is impossible in d escribing the handicrafts of Indian to follow the classification usually adopted of the arts and industries of Europe, based as it is on the broad distinction that must always be drawn between art and industry when industrial productions are no longer hand wrought but manufactured by machines. In India everything, is hand wrought, and everything down to the cheapest toy or earthen vessel, is therefore more or less a work of art. It is not ofcourse meant to rank the decorative art of India, which is a crystallised tradition, although perfect in form, with the fine arts of Europe, wherein the inventive genius of the artist, acting on his own spontaneous inspiration, asserts itself in true creation. But the Indian workman, from the humblest potter to the most cunning embroidery in blue and purple and scarlet is not the less a true artist, although he seldom rises above the traditions of his art. Many separate elements have contributed toward the development of the decorative arts of India.
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