Handcrafted in Kashmir Since 1900
Art Born from the Heart of Kashmir
Each piece of Layli is a masterwork — hand-painted by artisan families who have preserved this ancient craft across generations.
1900
Family craft since
100%
Painted by hand
Srinagar
Made in Kashmir
Worldwide
Delivery
An art carried through
four generations
Layli sells hand-painted Kashmiri papier-mâché and naqashi on wood — jewellery boxes, vases, wall plates and home décor, made in Srinagar and shipped worldwide.
Papier-mâché — known in Kashmir as kar-e-qalamdani — arrived in the Valley in the 14th century along the Silk Road. In Srinagar's old city, families still practise the two disciplines that define it: sakhtsazi, the moulding of paper, and naqashi, the painting. We have kept both alive since 1900.
- 14CArrival in the ValleyThe craft travels from Persia with Sufi mystic Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani.
- 1900The atelier is foundedOur family workshop opens in the Zaina Kadal quarter of Srinagar.
- 2026The workshop goes onlineAfter four generations selling from the bench in Srinagar, the same pieces now ship direct to homes across India and abroad.
Curated by form and ritual
This season's best sellers
Six disciplines, one object
From raw waste paper to a gilded heirloom, a single piece can take four to six weeks to complete.
Paper Pulp
Waste paper is soaked for days, pounded with rice straw and copper sulphate into a smooth pulp.
Hand Molding
The pulp is pressed over wooden or clay moulds and built up by hand into its final form.
Sun Drying
Pieces cure slowly in Himalayan air, then are smoothed with layers of gypsum and glue.
Hand Painting
The naqash paints motifs — chinar leaves, hazara florals — with a cat-hair brush.
Gold Detailing
Fine lines of gold leaf and saffron pigment are laid to lift the design into relief.
Lacquer Finish
Many coats of varnish are polished by hand to a deep, glassy lustre that lasts generations.
“My grandfather painted for the maharajas. The brush has not changed — and neither has the patience it asks of me.”
From the atelier
