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Cast in metal by the ancient lost-wax method, this Dokra fisherman stands mid-task with his net gathered in both hands, rendered in the unmistakable folk-life style the craft has carried for four thousand years. He is one of a kind. Because the clay mould is broken open only once to free the casting, the fine raised threadwork and organic surface texture you see can never be repeated on another piece, and the work itself belongs to the Dhokra Damar metalworker families of eastern and central India. For exact metal composition and height, see the specifications.
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.
A Dokra figure reads as a sculptural object, so give it room rather than crowding it. It sits well on a console table, a bookshelf ledge, a study desk, or a mantel, anywhere the eye lands as you enter. Keep a hand's width of clear space around it so the silhouette of the fisherman and his net stays legible.
The metal has a warm, matte, golden-brown tone that pairs naturally with wood, stone, and earthy textiles. Set against a plain or dark wall the raised texture catches light and shadow, so position it near a lamp or a window rather than in a flat-lit corner. It groups handsomely with other Dokra pieces or with terracotta and brass, and holds its own as a single accent.
The finish needs little. Dust it with a soft dry cloth, and an occasional buff with a barely damp cloth is enough. Avoid metal polishes and abrasive cleaners, which strip the characteristic surface. Kept dry and out of harsh direct sun, the figure ages slowly and well.
Dokra is lost-wax metal casting, a technique used on the subcontinent for more than four thousand years. The same method produced the Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro, which tells you how old the lineage behind this fisherman really is.
The maker begins with a core of fine river clay, shaped to the rough body of the figure and dried hard. Over this core, threads and sheets of beeswax mixed with resin are pressed and rolled by hand. This wax layer is where the detail lives: the fisherman's posture, the fall of the net, and the fine lines on the finished surface are all modelled in wax first.
The wax form is then coated in successive layers of clay to build a mould, with channels left open at one end. Fired, the mould gives up its wax: it melts and runs out through those channels, leaving a hollow in the exact shape of the original. Molten metal, a brass or bronze-family alloy, is poured in to take the wax's place.
Once cooled, the clay mould is broken away. It cannot be reused. That single fact is why no two Dokra pieces are ever identical, and why the craft produces originals rather than copies, the artisan finishing each one by filing the channels, cleaning the surface, and bringing up the warm tone by hand.
The slightly uneven finish and the visible raised threadlines are the marks of genuine hand Dokra, the opposite of a smooth machine-polished casting. This work belongs to the Dhokra Damar metalworker communities of West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh.
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Dokra is a 4,000-year-old tribal metal casting tradition using the lost-wax method to create one-of-a-kind brass figures, lamps, idols, and tribal décor.
