This Brass Dhokra (lost wax casting) item depicts a king riding a royal elephant made with intricate net design and is a good example of art from tribal India. This item can also be used as a container. The top lid is hinged on the right side of the elephant's back.
Tribal families produce indigenous designs with typical mesh like features giving each and every article a distinctive beauty suitable for interior decoration. This item is a wonderful imagination of a tribal artist from Orissa, India.
Originally, these Dhokra craftsmen were nomads who went from tribe to tribe making their ceremonial and religious figures, ornaments and kitchenware. They were restricted to the materials of their immediate physical surroundings and the process of dhokra also matched their nomadic biorhythm. It does not require any fixed place or structure, or any heavy, large tools. They used wax, resin and firewood from the forests, clay from the river bed and made the firing oven in a hole dug in the ground.
|
