This old brass money box is from the Dhokra Damar tribes of Orissa in North East India. This style of Dhokra work dates to the late 19th & early 20th centuries. These caskets would have been used daily by families for keeping cash and valuables.


The Dhokra tribe extends from Bihar to West Bengal and Orissa; members are distant cousins of the Madhya Pradesh Dhokras. A few hundred years ago the Dhokras of Central and Eastern India traveled south as far as Kerala and north as far as Rajasthan.



These boxes were made using the lost wax casting technique also known as cire perdue. A box is first sculpted from wax and then coated with clay (usually made from termite hills) which creates the outer mold. Once the clay has dried, it is fired and molten brass is poured in to replace the original wax mold. Once cooled, the clay is broken to reveal a finished box.


When cool the clay mold is broken off exposing the cast bronze box. The casting is then cleaned and finer details are carved to finish the piece. As the mold is broken, each piece is unique.

From India

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