Dhokra Craft

 

Dhokra Craft

India is the country in the world with an unbroken, living vibrant tradition of crafts. It is a craft all about non-ferrous metal casting technique called Dhokra present in India. Mostly the tribal people are engaged in this type of crafts of India. The household economies of these tribes depend on the revenues generated through the craft. Thus, understanding the performance and productivity of household enterprises is necessary for understanding of economic well-being. With the changing socio- economic conditions of the society, demands of customers and the marketing opportunities, it is being difficult in the part of artisans to sustain their livelihood. Dhokra crafts are antique looking golden color popular products available today. The peasant look of dhokra makes them extremely appealing.

HISTORY

Around 4000 years ago, a metal sculptor in Mohenjo-Daro created a masterpiece. This masterpiece proved that a flourishing civilization existed in the basin of the Indus Valley River. One of the earliest known lost wax artifacts is the dancing girl of Mohenjo- daro. Inspired by the ancient craftsman, the Dhokra metal casting process uses the same lost wax technique that the sculptor of Indus valley civilization used to create exquisite, bronze, brass sculptures and figurines. It is majorly the regional art form found in the states of Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh. Dhokra Damar tribes are the main traditional metalsmith of West Bengal and Odisha.

DHOKRA  AND FIGURINE ART

The artifacts like miniature of animals, various religious characters, which are prepared by the dhokra artists in ancient era and even today are the unique in figurine art. The copper age started its journey with anthropomorphic art but dhokra arts are neither anthropomorphic nor zoomorphic. The artifact not only intimates the original figurine of animals but also some imagination figurines are also added. 

The Dhokra craftsmen often work with brass (copper + zinc) or bronze (copper + tin). If the tin content is high, the alloy is called bell metal. The Dhokra is the unique figurine art. Here figure are very slender in nature. This crafts of its unique figurine art is making an association between Indian civilization and figurine art. The most common model of dhokra craft are the figures of elephants, horses, owls, tortoises and the posture of hunting. The physical appearances of those animals in dhokra craft are different from reality. Here the four animals are the symbols of four virtues: elephant for masculinity and wisdom, horse for motion, owl for death and prosperity and turtle for femininity.

In Hindu mythology, the world is thought to rest on the backs of four elephants that stand on the shell of a turtle. According to Hinduism, tortoise carries the world on his back, upholding the Earth and the sea. One Avatar of Vishnu is the giant turtle ‘Kurma’. The plastron symbolizes the earthly world and the carapace the heavenly world. The Shatapatha Brahmana identifies the world as the body of Kurmaraja, the "king of tortoises", with the earth its plastron, the atmosphere its body, and the vault of the heavens its carapace. The tortoise holds the elephant, on which rests the earth. The elephant is the masculine symbol and the tortoise the feminine.

PROCESS

Raw materials: Brass metal, Bell metal, Bees wax (mohum), Clay bees-wax threads, Coal, mustard oil, 'dhuna’(extracted from the Sal tree).

Tools : Furnace (bhatti) , Sulka (to give impressions) , Small chisel (nihan) , Big chisel (batani) , Hammer , Graphite container to melt brass (kui) , Tongs (chimta).

It involves six stages:

1.  Core-making: A clay core is made, slightly smaller than the final intended size of the artifact. The core may be hardened by firing or sun-drying;
2.   Modelling: A detailed wax model is built up around the core, to the thickness of metal desired in the finished object;
3. Moulding: The wax model is coated with a thin layer of very fine clay, which will form an impression of every detail of the model. When this layer is dry and hard, further layers of clay are added to the mould. One or more pouring channels are provided, through which molten metal can run to fill the mould;
4. De-waxing: The mould is pre-heated to melt the wax, and the molten wax is poured out (it may be recovered for subsequent re-use). This leaves a cavity which has the exact size, shape and surface contours of the intended artifact;
5.  Casting: Molten metal is poured into the cavity and the mould left to cool;
6. Finishing: The artifact is broken out of the mould. Traces of baked clay are removed and surface blemishes and defects repaired.

Primarily there are two main processes of lost wax casting: solid casting and hollow casting. While the former is predominant in the south of India, the latter is more common in Central and Eastern India. Solid casting does not use a clay core but instead a solid piece of wax to create the shape; hollow casting is the more traditional method and uses the clay core.

The first task in the lost wax hollow casting process consists of developing a clay core which is roughly the shape of the final cast image. Next, the clay core is covered by a layer of wax composed of pure beeswax, resins from the tree Damara orientalis, and nut oil. The wax is then shaped and carved in all its finer details of design and decorations. It is then covered with layers of clay, which takes the negative form of the wax on the inside, thus becoming a shape for the metal that will be poured inside it. Drain ducts are left for the wax, which melts away when the clay is cooked. The wax is then replaced by the molten metal, often using brass scrap as basic raw material. The liquid metal poured in hardens between the core and the inner surface of the cast. The metal fills the cast and takes the same shape as the wax. The outer layer of clay is then chipped off and the metal icon is polished and finished as desired.

Eighty five percent of the dhokra enterprises were found as nonviable with benefit cost ratio less than one. The low viability was majorly reported due to lack of sufficient capital(80%), lack of technology to simplify the work process(34%), lack of proper market chain(53%)and no protection from the occupational hazards in the work environment(30%).Thus there is need to look into factors affecting this livelihood

Dokhra artisans face several problems in marketing. In view of shortage of financial resources, promotion cannot be undertaken by artisans. Absence of systematic marketing network has been a discouraging factor in this sector. Hence the government required to play a vital role in solving the marketing problems faced by the artisans. Here is an initiative taken by fullstopkart.com to help the artisans in promoting their art and craft of our rich culture which is diminishing day by day. fullstopkart.com is trying to create visibility of the work they are doing in the four walls of their house among with the like-minded people.  It is our duty to make the artisans aware and teach them to innovate and improvise, use better tools and better raw materials. Proper care should also be taken to popularize the crafts in home markets creating awareness among the home consumers. Hopefully happy times lie ahead for Dokhra crafts and artisans can look forward to a bright future.