Bastar Wall Lamp Lohshilp Wrought Iron Tea Light

From the tribal belt of Bastar, Chhattisgarh, where the Iron Smith community has worked wrought iron since before recorded memory, first to make tools and weapons for the forest-dwelling tribes, then, over generations, to make art. This tradition is called Lohshilp. The forms are drawn from everyday tribal life: animals, trees, figures in motion. Iron is forged, beaten, and shaped by hand without the use of a mold.

Bastar's wrought iron tradition, Lohshilp, is one of the least-known and most immediate craft forms in India. The Iron Smith community of Chhattisgarh's tribal belt works iron by hand: heating, hammering, bending it into forms drawn from the natural world around them. No casting, no mold, each piece is shaped through direct contact between tool and metal. This wall lamp carries that process into a form that holds a candle.

Hang it in a corner, a hallway, a niche. The forged iron reads as sculptural even unlit, the lines are clean and undecorated in the way tribal objects always are. Light a tea light inside it and the iron shadow spreads across the wall in a pattern that shifts with the flame.

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

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.