Brass Work - Aligarh
Uttar Pradesh is one of the largest brass and copper making state in India with thousands of people employed in these establishments. Raw material is generally obtained by either melting minerals or old scrap. The object is generally shaped by beating with a hammer the sheet metal to the required shape while heating, or by pouring the molten material to the mold made of sand for ordinary objects. Some of the non- ferrous metal that man shaped into tools earlier was copper and bronze mainly for their weightlessness and resistance to corrosion.
It is seen as a wide practice the use of many range of alloys made in the combinations and compositions of metal to fulfill the necessities. It is observed the metal ware of India is generally divided into the religious images, ritualistic materials and objects of convenience. The metals generally used are brass, copper, zinc, mixture of copper and tin.
In the voided replica chamber molten metal is poured in the red hot stage. Generally in the solid casting molten alloy is poured in a thin and even stream into the mold also in the red hot stage. Care must be taken to see that head of the icons are cut out first as a good sign. Opening is provided in the outer shell so that when fire is lit the wax melts and flows through it.
Polishing is another aspect that enhances the look of the metal surface, it is either done by vigorous rubbing by hand, by feet using rag, by machine with power. The craftsmen of Aligarh are generally engaged in making of the Buddha statues of various shapes and sizes. Aligarh is famous for the various monuments and one of the commercial center of Uttar Pradesh known as a center for brass hardware and statues.
