Wall Hanging Mask - Tribal Male

Details

The Wall Hanging Mask Tribal Male is an attractive wall decor accessory that beautifully replicates the face of a man. The brass (Dhokra) mask offers an enchanting look as fine detailing has been taken care of with highly intricate designs on the temple as well as on the forehead. The ears of the mask feature eye-catching hoops and it completes the swirl look as effortlessly. When adorned against walls of homes that are well-lit, the mask will just serve the purpose right.

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.

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.