Etikoppaka Lacquer Toys
Turned wooden toys coloured with lac dyed from seeds, bark and roots.
Etikoppaka, a village on the Varaha river in Anakapalli district of Andhra Pradesh, makes lacquered wooden toys and objects — spinning tops, figures, animals, Dasavatara and wedding sets, boxes, bangles, candlestands and kitchen sets — turned on a lathe and coloured with lac tinted using natural dyes made from seeds, leaves, bark and roots. The forms are rounded and simple, the colours warm and slightly translucent, and the craft is a reference point for non-toxic, naturally dyed toys.
Craft at a Glance
Origin
Etikoppaka, Andhra Pradesh
Also Known As
Etikoppaka bommalu, Etikoppaka lacquerware, ankudu-wood toys
Craft Type
Lathe-turned lacquered woodcraft
Practising Community
Kharadi (lathe-turner) artisan families, organised around a producer body and cooperative
Materials
Ankudu (Wrightia tinctoria) wood; lac (shellac) coloured with natural dyes from seeds, bark, roots and leaves; leaves and cloth for burnishing; and thread and dowels for jointed pieces.
Known For
Natural-dye lac-turned toys, Dasavatara sets, figures, boxes, bangles and kitchen sets
Where It's Made
Etikoppaka village on the Varaha river, Anakapalli district, Andhra Pradesh
Time to Create
One to three days per set
GI Status
Etikoppaka Toys (Etikoppaka Bommalu) is a registered GI of Andhra Pradesh
Process Steps
Seasoning and cutting the wood
Ankudu logs are dried and cut into blanks sized to the toy or object to be made.
Mounting on the lathe
The blank is fixed between the lathe centres so it can be turned true.
Turning the shape
The spinning blank is cut to its profile with hand-held chisels braced on a rest.
Preparing the coloured lac
Lac is melted and tinted with dye extracts cooked from seeds, bark, roots and leaves.
Applying the lac colour
A stick of the plant-dyed lac is pressed to the spinning wood, melting on a glossy coat of colour.
Burnishing
A leaf or cloth is held against the piece to spread the lac and polish it to a soft shine.
Detailing and assembly
Features are added in further passes, and multi-part items are fitted together from the turned components.
Technique Glossary
Ankudu wood
The soft, pale wood (Wrightia tinctoria) used for Etikoppaka turnery.
Lac (shellac)
A natural resin from the lac insect, melted with colour for the coating.
Natural-dye lac
Lac tinted with plant extracts rather than synthetic pigment, an Etikoppaka hallmark.
Friction polishing
Using the heat of a leaf held against the spinning piece to melt and buff the lac to a gloss.
Kharadi
The hereditary lathe-turner community that practises the craft.
Dasavatara set
A set of turned figures representing the ten incarnations of Vishnu, a traditional Etikoppaka product.
Chak (lathe)
The turning lathe, historically hand- or bow-driven, now usually motorised.
A Craft Through Time
Pre-modern
Godavari-belt turnery
Etikoppaka artisans turn and lacquer toys using local ankudu wood and lac.
20th century
Synthetic colours
Chemical dyes replace natural ones, as in most lac-toy centres.
1990s onward
Natural-dye revival
C. V. Raju and the artisans reintroduce plant-based colours and organise a producer body.
2017
Geographical Indication
Etikoppaka Toys are registered as a GI of Andhra Pradesh.
21st century
Urban and export markets
The natural-dye range reaches design stores, museum shops and export buyers.
Present
A living toy village
The turners continue, balancing traditional ritual sets with contemporary homeware and toys.
Did You Know?
The revival of Etikoppaka replaced chemical colours entirely with dyes cooked from things like annatto seeds, indigo and madder root — so the toys are coloured with the same plant palette used for natural-dye textiles.
Every craft has a story. Every story begins with tradition.