Our Story — Antiqar
Between two cities,
one dream.
From Kolkata's clay idol makers to Mirzapur's brass craftsmen — the story of a woman who spent her life among artisans and decided to give their craft the world it deserved.
Founded with purpose
Antiqar was never just a business. It was a promise — to the artisans who shaped beauty with their hands but could never reach the people who would cherish it.
— The story of Moumita Gupta, Founder, Antiqar
Artisans crafting clay idols in the lanes of Kolkata — the world that shaped Moumita's vision.
01
Kolkata, West Bengal
A childhood shaped by
clay and devotion
Moumita Gupta grew up in Kolkata, in a neighbourhood alive with the quiet industry of artisans. In the lanes around her home, craftsmen spent their days shaping clay into god idols — Durga, Ganesha, Lakshmi — their hands moving with a precision born of generations of practice.
For young Moumita, this wasn't background noise. It was her world. She watched, fascinated, as figures emerged from raw earth — the patience, the devotion, the skill. While other children played, she sat beside artisans and absorbed the language of craft.
That childhood left a mark that never faded. A deep reverence for the people who make beautiful things with their hands, and a quiet resolve to do something meaningful for them.
02
Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh
A new home, a new craft, and a vision begins
After completing her graduation, Moumita was married into a family in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh — a city with its own deep relationship with craft. In Kasaratti, the area known across India for brass manufacturing, she discovered a world of metalwork unlike anything she had seen in Kolkata.
Here, artisans didn't work with clay. They worked with brass — beating, casting, polishing, finishing it into kalash, plates, diyas, and ritual items. The skill was extraordinary. The reach was not.
Moumita found herself living between two worlds of craft— the clay idol makers of Kolkata and the brass finishers of Mirzapur. And she saw, with stunning clarity, that they were missing each other.
The Kolkata artisans were masters of form — shaping gods, figures, and narrative sculptures with remarkable detail. The Mirzapur artisans were masters of finish — applying the antique patina, polishing, and metalwork precision that turned raw brass into heirlooms. Together, they could make something neither could alone.
Brass artisans of Kasaratti, Mirzapur — masters of finish and form in metal.
The first handcrafted brass idols — form from Kolkata, finish from Mirzapur.
03
The Collaboration
Two artisan communities.
One conversation.
The birth of Antiqar.
The idea was simple in hindsight, remarkable in practice. Moumita began facilitating a collaboration between the two communities — Kolkata artisans sculpting the idols and figurines, Mirzapur artisans applying the brass finish, patina, and polish that gave each piece its antique soul.
The first products were brass idols — god figures shaped with the sculptural mastery of Bengal's clay tradition, finished with the metalwork expertise of Kasaratti's workshops. Nothing quite like them existed in the market.
Mirzapur, however, is a smaller city.Distribution, logistics, and market connectivity were limited. To scale what she had built — to give these products the national reach they deserved — Moumita made the decisive move to Lucknow.
As the capital of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow offered everything Mirzapur could not: infrastructure, connectivity to every state in India, access to buyers from Delhi to Mumbai to Chennai.Antiqar's headquarters were established in Lucknow, from where the brand now ships handcrafted brass pieces across India and beyond.
800+
Handcrafted products
2
Artisan communities united
4.86★
Verified buyer rating
3
Cities, one vision
From Kolkata's lanes to India's living rooms
A childhood among clay artisans
Growing up surrounded by craftsmen shaping god idols from clay — a world that left Moumita with a lifelong love of handcraft.
A new world of brass
After completing her graduation, Moumita married in Mirzapur — and discovered Kasaratti, the brass-making heart of UP.
The collaboration idea is born
Recognising that Kolkata's idol-makers and Mirzapur's brass finishers could create something extraordinary together, Moumita begins planning the collaboration.
First brass idols manufactured
The first collection is created — brass idols sculpted with Bengal's artisan tradition and finished with Mirzapur's metalwork mastery. A product unlike any other.
Antiqar headquarters established
To scale nationally, Moumita moves operations to Lucknow — the capital of UP and the gateway to pan-India distribution. Antiqar is officially born.
800+ products. Growing every day.
Today, Antiqar ships handcrafted brass and Dhokra art across India — from Delhi to Chennai, from Kolkata to Mumbai — carrying the work of two artisan communities into homes that cherish them.
"I didn't start Antiqar to sell products. I started it to build a bridge — between the artisan's hands and the buyer's heart."
Moumita Gupta — Founder, Antiqar. Lucknow, UP.
Meet the founder
Moumita Gupta
Founder & Visionary — Antiqar
Moumita grew up in Kolkata watching artisans shape clay into gods with their bare hands. She didn't know then that this would define her life's work. But some impressions run too deep to fade.
After completing her graduation, she moved to Mirzapur following her marriage — and found herself surrounded by a completely different world of craft: the brass workshops of Kasaratti, where generations of metalworkers had perfected the art of finish and polish.
She lived between these two worlds — Kolkata's sculptors and Mirzapur's polishers — and saw what no one else had: they were the two halves of one extraordinary thing.She spent years bringing them together.
Today, Antiqar is headquartered in Lucknow — the city that gives it the reach to carry the work of these two artisan communities into homes across India. Every piece sold is a tribute to the craftsmen whose skill, patience, and heritage Moumita has spent her life honouring.
Moumita Gupta
The artisan communities behind Antiqar
Two cities. Two crafts.
One extraordinary result.
Kasaratti, Mirzapur, UP
The brass finishers
Artisans from the brass heartland of India — Kasaratti, Mirzapur — whose specialty is the finish. The antique patina, the golden polish, the metalwork precision that transforms a raw casting into a piece that looks centuries old. Their touch is what makes brass sing.
Mastery of finish & metalwork
Kolkata, West Bengal
The idol makers
Generations of craftsmen who learned to shape clay — and later brass — into gods, figures, and sculptures of breathtaking detail. Their expertise lies in form: the curve of a deity's hand, the expression on a lion's face, the balance of a figurine in space.
Mastery of form & sculpture
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