Tortoise - Tribal Decorative

Tortoise Tribal Decorative is an endearing Dhokra product offered by goroots. The decorative home decor accessory uniquely defines the traditional Dhokra art, which is almost 4000 years old. The artistically handmade brassware can be used as a paperweight or a decorative on tabletops bearing a dark tint. Use it on desks and counters for an appealing vintage look and feel. The Tortoise artefact bears highly ornate designs that resemble ancient tribal people in their cultural attire from head to toe. While the face and the head of the tortoise are covered with fine patterns, the legs and the shell dons intricate carvings in the most beautiful way. This Dhokra artefact proves to be one of the most intriguing gift ideas on special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries.

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 or cire perdue is called as Dhokra.

The metal workers make a living by handcrafting, moulding and casting the brass or the Dhokra, as it is regionally referred to as. 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.

As the art of Dhokra handicraft had been adopted by most of the culture-rich states of India, the technique was tailored by the indigenous artisans of various regions, based on their natural surroundings and availability of resources. Hence, the Dhokra art of one region would strikingly differ from the other.

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 Tortoise Tribal Decorative 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.