Dokra Craft - A Few Facts on Dokra Craft That No Indian Handicrafts Expert Will Ever Reveal to You

Dokra craft and manufacturing have received a big boost recently due to rising demand in foreign shores. Foreign customers and leading global high street fashion houses have expressed a lot of interest in the unique Dokra craft.

However, the picture isn't as rosy as it seems. There are plenty of thorns in the bed of roses and the Dokra craftsmen are bound by their crippling limitations and handicaps. The Dokra artists have to work with their hands because each and every single piece of Dokra craft is hand crafted. And because of this the finishing isn't really up to the mark, the finishing of the end product leaves a lot to be desired.

So those Dokra items which have to be exported to foreign markets are polished, smoothed down and given a lot of additional detailing by machines in some other place. This machine made polishing and final round of finishing lend a vital glow and luster and rustic beauty to the Dokra items.

At times, these Dokra products which are exported to foreign shores are coated with Teflon to prevent nicks, cuts, chipping and to protect the figurine from every day wear and tear. But the Teflon coating as well, happens to be an industrial procedure.

Because bulk manufacture of hand crafted Dokra items is not possible, the market has remained small and niche. You see because each and every single piece of Dokra craft is made by hand, the manufacturing period is rather long and these two factors push up the price in the markets.

Thus these handcrafted Dokra items become extremely costly and are out of reach for most middle class people, who would think twice before investing so much money behind home decor items of tribal origin.

Had these Dokra items been manufactured in bulks or been made by machines through industrial process, the prices would have come down significantly. The reason why Dokra casting takes so much time is because the image is first given a concrete shape in wax followed by metal casting. One consignment of new lines of product takes close to 6 to 8 months to complete. That is why Dokra artists don't take bulk orders.

The price of a Dokra vase in Indian currency is around Rs 1000. You shall have to shell out upwards of Rs 1600 for a pair of serving sets.