The wonderful face molding of a woman named Dehni, hails from Chamba in the Himalayan region of Himachal Pradesh. It is considered the embodiment of the art of Pahari and even skills or memories inherited from ancestors. This oval-shaped metal casting captures the tranquil features of Dehni's face and is designed with the face and frame cast together as one single unit. Her name and the place from which she hails, namely "Chamba," are engraved directly onto the mould-sculpting-while preserving her very identity-in form and inscription. The Pahari tribe resides in the hilly regions of Himachal Pradesh and boasts diverse traditional cultural forms: music and dance, miniature paintings, and crafts. So significant is Chamba to the metalworking tradition that it was, and still is, a famous centre of Pahari arts. Such face moulds were presumably created as memorial or devotional objects representing an amalgamation of familial veneration combined with the regional artistry.
Face moulds like that of Dehni were in all likelihood kept in family shrines or in the sacred corners of homes to honor deceased loved ones. The casting together of face and frame indicates an intention for wholeness and continuity- that is, for uniting the individual with her cultural roots. The artistry, perhaps, lies in its straightforwardness and realism, lending an aura of quiet dignity to Dehni and her memory and community values. The artifact provides a tribute not only to this one life but also an entire panorama of ancestral traditions and artistic achievement among the Pahari of Himachal.