Sun Mask - Wall Plaque

The artistically handcrafted Sun Mask Wall Plaque is a beautiful home decor accessory, carved with superior techniques of the traditional Dhokra art. The mask resembles the Sun God, to which the tribes offer prayers and seek blessings from.The Sun Mask wall hanging features perfect flawless symmetrical designs all over. With a view that can captivate any onlooker, the mask carries remarkable details and fine characteristics on the temple and eyebrows. Distinct pattern encircling the mask leaves with an artistic ability to capture the attention on anyone.It can be used as a wall hanging in order to enhance the rustic look and feel of spacious living space. Especially, the Sun Mask wall plaque can be adorned against well-lit walls for a dash of sophistication and elegance.

About Dhokra Art

Dhokra is one of the oldest forms of the art of metal casting. It is the tribes Gadwas, Dhurwas and Gonds who still practise the 4000-year old art, derived from which the lost wax technique is called as Dhokra.

The metal workers make a living by handcrafting, moulding and casting the brass or the Dhokra,as it is regionally called. The art originates from the central and eastern Indian states including Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Jharkhand along with West Bengal, where the art originally belongs to.

The tribal group of the metal workers initially travelled from the remote interiors of West Bengal to down south, as far as Kerala and right up to the western state of Rajasthan as well.

Procedure

As the word Dhokra also describes a certain sect of the tribes who perform the art of metal casting using the lost wax techniques of solid casting and hollow casting, which initially involves treating the coarse clay mould to high temperatures in an oven or by drying in the sun.

The beeswax is drawn into stripes and fine wires in order to wrap them around the heated clay in order to produce a similar, though softer mould. The beeswax is mixed with resinous gum and then boiled in mustard oil.

The model is then evenly coated with a very thin layer of wet clay, the stage that lets fine details of the replica to make an impression on the clay.Before the clay is added to the molten metal, the clay is either heated or sundried and the mould is carefully heated to high degree centigrade until the wax melts in the process leaving a cavity behind.

The hollow cavity is then filled with a molten metal and set aside to cool off. Finally, the clay mould is broken and the object is taken out for the purpose of cleaning and polishing.

Before providing final touches to the brassware, the Dhokra artists chisel and polish the artefact using herbal colours.

Region

The Wall Hanging Mask Tribal Male does duly depict the rich ethics of the Dhokra tribes situated in the Central and Eastern regions of India that stretches from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand to West Bengal and Orissa.

goroots provides a concrete backing to the Dhokra craftsmen in the remote interiors of the culture-rich states of India. We encourage the ability of the tribal handicraft artisans and genuinely support their efforts through our website.