Tools are generally extensions of the functions of the hands, but in some cultures, of the feet as well. We in the West deprive ourselves of the use of our feet in work for the sake of comfort, immobilizing them in stockings and shoes. Wherever metalsmiths work in India, they use their feet to hold, guide, manipulate, and support large objects under work, as naturally as they use their feet for standing and walking. Shown here is a brass worker (thathera) from Pemberti, Andhra Pradesh, in South India, planishing a brass water pot with hand and hammer, at the same time using one foot to guide its movement over the earth-anchored anvil, and the other to help keep it in position to receive the regular rain of blows over its surface.
