Dokra Craft- Traditional Lost -Wax Casting Technique, Odisha
Keywords :Traditional Lost -Wax Casting Technique
Issue Date :2014
Description :Dokra casting technology is one of the oldest forms of metal casting prevellent amongst the tribals of Odisha. Tribal families in villages near Rayagada district, cast boxes, figures of Gods and Goddesses, and lamps using the lost wax technique.It is the use of bee wax that makes it possible for the craftsmen to give shape to various structures. The entire process involves certain steps: Step 1: Using rather coarse clay the artist makes a core roughly resembling the end product. The clay core is dryed and hardened.Step 2: Thin wires of bee wax wraped around the clay core to produce a replica that is smooth and expressive. Then they add the decorative features and wax channels. The channels, during baking in the furnace will act as a freeway for the molten metal.Step 3: The replica is coated with a thin layer of very fine wet clay. This layer is sun dried, and further layers of clay added. A clay funnel is added for molten metal to flow inside the mould. Step 4: The mould is carefully heated so that the wax melts and is lost (hence the name lost-wax technique) leaving behind a cavity.The cavity is filled with molten metal, and the mould is left to cool. The clay mould is broken and the artifact taken out for cleaning and polishing.
Received From :Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya
DC Field
Value
dc.coverage.spatial
Odisha
dc.date.accessioned
2019-08-02T12:11:28Z
dc.date.available
2019-08-02T12:11:28Z
dc.description
Dokra casting technology is one of the oldest forms of metal casting prevellent amongst the tribals of Odisha. Tribal families in villages near Rayagada district, cast boxes, figures of Gods and Goddesses, and lamps using the lost wax technique.It is the use of bee wax that makes it possible for the craftsmen to give shape to various structures. The entire process involves certain steps: Step 1: Using rather coarse clay the artist makes a core roughly resembling the end product. The clay core is dryed and hardened.Step 2: Thin wires of bee wax wraped around the clay core to produce a replica that is smooth and expressive. Then they add the decorative features and wax channels. The channels, during baking in the furnace will act as a freeway for the molten metal.Step 3: The replica is coated with a thin layer of very fine wet clay. This layer is sun dried, and further layers of clay added. A clay funnel is added for molten metal to flow inside the mould. Step 4: The mould is carefully heated so that the wax melts and is lost (hence the name lost-wax technique) leaving behind a cavity.The cavity is filled with molten metal, and the mould is left to cool. The clay mould is broken and the artifact taken out for cleaning and polishing.
Government of India
