The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c10.277.3

v1.c10.277.3

it should be made of some choice wood, mounted with gold, silver, and jewels.¹³² Of the handles appropriate for the various kinds of *cāmaras*, the articles of which they should be made,—gold, silver, and the like;—the mountings they should have,—jewellery of various kinds;—their thickness and length with reference to the respective ranks of the persons for whom they are to be made, the author also gives elaborate descriptions; but they are not sufficiently interesting to be worth translating. The Smṛtis also describe various kinds of *cāmaras*; and speak of the merit of presenting them to Brāhmaṇs on particular occasions, but I shall forbear to quote from them, as it is impossible to identify in sculpture the different varieties mentioned by them. The article itself is frequently met with in sculpture, and represented as a mass of flowing hair mounted on a handle more or less ornamented. The woodcut in the margin (No. 50) shows the typical form, but the mass of hair of which it is formed is not always made of a uniform thickness. In some specimens, the hair is short, but thick-set and very bushy; in others it is long, flowing and light. The pellicles of the tail-feathers of peacocks, and the crested tops of those feathers were also used in making *cāmaras*, but I have not seen them delineated in sculpture, nor have I noticed any mention of horse-hair as a material for *cāmaras*.