Terra-cotta tribal figures making music in the Bastar forests; above right, tall jars
depicting scenes from tribal village life, reflecting a style of carving and painting
seen on memorials to the departed.

WOODCRAFT Bastar artists use a variety of fine local woods in their craft, including shisham - Indian Rosewood - (Dalbergia latifolia), teak (Tectona grandis), and sal (Shorea robusta). Besides wooden sculpture, they make pipes, masks and decorative items like bows and arrows, and axes. Decorated doors, window frames and furniture are becoming increasingly popular for urban homes.

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The very ancient process known as cire-perdue or 'lost-wax' is still alive in Bastar today. Raw materials are brass, wax, mud and wood for fuel. Moulds of the required shape are first covered with a mixture of mud and grass and gummed. Extremely fine vermicelli-like strips of wax are pasted over, depending on the design sought. The piece is further plastered with layers of mud, with an opening covered with a cup of molten brass. The whole piece is then baked in the oven. During the baking the wax inside melts away. Removing the piece from the fire, the cup is inverted and the molten brass flows into the cavities left by the wax. This gives the distinctive lined look to bell metal products. Finally, the outer mud covering is broken and the bell metal piece is cleaned. A single piece can take 4-5 days in production.Traditionally, bell metal workers were engaged in manufacturing household utensils, idols, jewellery and decorative pieces representing religious motifs. Today most products are purely decorative - statues, small pots, figurines, hunting horns (below left - which still have local ritual uses) - all drawing on a unique Bastar style of representation that has become increasingly popular as an embellishment to metropolitan decor.

 

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Crafting iron begins with iron ore from local mines heated in a small furnace, then manually beaten and moulded into various shapes. Traditionally, farm implements and ceremonial horses and swings were made. There is also a custom of gifting daughters exquisitely carved 'deeyas' (lamp holders) on their wedding day. Today birds and animals, carved deeyas, candle stands, lattice work, furniture, lamps and other decorative items are produced, often exhibiting a startlingly 'modern' style that is growing in popularity and originality.

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