Iron Deer Bastar Lohshilp Wrought Iron Tea Lights

Forged in the Lohshilp tradition of Bastar, Chhattisgarh, iron heated, hammered flat, and bent by hand into the form of a deer without the use of a casting mold. The Iron Smith community of the Bastar tribal belt has worked this way for generations, shaping iron into the animals and figures drawn from the forest world surrounding them. Two handmade pieces, unfinished iron, the surface carrying the mark of the forge.

The Lohshilp wrought iron tradition of Bastar, Chhattisgarh emerged from the Iron Smith community's role as tool and weapon makers for the forest tribes of Central India. Over generations, that functional practice became an artisanal art form, figures shaped from iron by hand, the forms drawn from nature, the process unchanged. These deer are that tradition distilled to its most direct: silhouette, iron, light.

Two pieces, each holding a tea light. The iron is uncoated and ungilded, just the metal, with the slight irregularity of handcrafted forging visible at the edges. Lit, the deer cast a fine shadow. The pairing works because both pieces carry the same hand, the same process, and the same unhurried material honesty.

Lohshilp Wrought Iron · Bastar, Chhattisgarh · Hand-Forged · Iron Smith Tradition

Care Instructions

• Wipe with a dry, soft cloth.
• Do not immerse in water or use liquid cleaners.
• Remove wax residue with a soft cloth while still warm.
• Polish metal surfaces occasionally with a soft brass cloth.