Meet the Artisans: Dhokra Metal Casting of Bastar

Dhokra is one of the oldest known metal casting techniques in the world, using the lost-wax method to create intricate brass figurines, jewellery and decor.

Practiced primarily by the Dhokra Damar tribes of Chhattisgarh and Odisha, each piece begins as a clay core, wrapped in fine threads of beeswax, then coated in clay again before being fired — melting away the wax and leaving a mould that's filled with molten brass.

No two Dhokra pieces are ever identical, since the mould is destroyed in the process. It's this uniqueness that makes every Clayhood Dhokra piece a genuine collector's item.