Price :
QTY :
CART TOTALS :
There are items
in your cart
CART TOTALS :
With this products also buy:
Your shopping bag is empty
Go to the shop
Goddess Laxmi sits with lotuses in hand in this large brass idol, cast in the Dokra lost wax tradition by metal casters of West Bengal and curated through Trifed. At 10.5 x 7 x 3.5 inches it holds a mandir shelf, a console, or an office reception with real presence. The casting is one of a kind; the mould breaks in the making, so no second identical piece exists. A serious idol for the most honoured corner of the home.
Each piece is one-of-a-kind due to its handmade nature. Avoid moisture and harsh cleaning agents.
Each piece is handcrafted, so slight variations in colour, texture and dimension are natural and celebrate its handmade origin.
Dokra is one of the oldest metal casting traditions still practised in India; lost wax casting of this kind is often traced back to the bronze figures of the Indus Valley cities. In West Bengal it survives in family workshops of hereditary metal casters, and this Laxmi comes from that lineage, curated through Trifed, the government body for craft from India's indigenous communities.
The core. The figure begins as a core of clay, shaped roughly to Laxmi's seated form and dried hard. The core sets the idol's final proportions; everything after it is added in layers.
The wax body. Over this core the caster builds the idol in wax, working the face, the crown, the lotuses, and the fall of the drapery. Everything you see in brass existed first in wax, shaped by hand and fingernail and simple tools. This is the stage where the piece becomes this piece.
The mould. The finished wax figure is coated in layers of fine clay, which capture every detail in negative. Each layer must dry before the next goes on, because a rushed mould cracks in the fire. Channels are left for the metal to enter and air to escape.
The pour. The mould is fired; the wax runs out and molten brass is poured into the cavity it leaves behind. The metal takes the exact place of the wax, down to the finest line. A casting of this size typically takes days from core to reveal, and most of that time is waiting: for clay to dry, for metal to cool, for the piece to be ready to show itself.
The reveal. Once cool, the clay mould is broken away. It cannot be reused, which is why no two Dokra castings are ever identical, and why this idol is genuinely one of a kind.
Finishing. The raw casting is cut free of its channels, filed, and brought to a warm polish. Look for small asymmetries in the lotuses and drapery, and the absence of the seam lines a reusable factory mould leaves behind. Both are the honest signatures of lost wax work.
Be the first to review this product.
Dhokra is an ancient metal craft from India’s tribal regions, including West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand. Practiced for over 4,000 years, it follows traditional lost-wax casting techniques.
