Lokta paper goods: the frames, boxes and cards, and what to specify
Listed on this site as Rice Paper Goods, the line is made from lokta - Nepali handmade paper. What is in the range, and the details worth naming when you place the order.
This line is listed on the site as Rice Paper Goods, which is what it has long been called in the trade here. The paper itself is lokta — Nepali handmade paper, made from the bark of the lokta shrub that grows in Nepal's middle hills. Our own product labels say exactly that: handmade in Nepal, from Lokta (Nepali handmade) paper.
It is worth being precise about, because rice paper is a different material altogether. If you are writing your own listings or labels, lokta is the word that describes what you have actually bought.
What is in the range
- Picture frames, including a pattern cut to echo the carved Newari windows of the Kathmandu Valley, and plain frames in dyed lokta
- Lidded boxes, square and round, plain or with a printed panel, some with a button-and-tie fastening
- Greeting cards
They are built up by hand from cut board and covered in lokta, at the bench in our own Kathmandu workshop. There are photographs of that work in the gallery.
What to tell us when you order
- size and shape
- the outer paper: natural, dyed, or printed with a traditional design
- the lining, and any fastening
- whether it should carry your own artwork or logo
- how many, and by when
A note on handmade paper
Because lokta is made by hand, shade and texture vary a little from sheet to sheet. On a shelf that is the point of it — it is the difference between a handmade box and a printed carton. But if your range depends on close colour matching across a large run, raise it at enquiry rather than at delivery, and we will tell you what is realistic.
Ordering
The current range is on the Rice Paper Goods page, each piece with its own minimum order quantity. For anything made to your own design, the enquiry form is the fastest way to reach us.