Bowl
The whale
Curled into the base of the bowl, surfacing only once the last spoonful is gone.
Real Kansa · 78:22 · Hand-Finished
The Tuoom Kids Thali Set — a complete kansa dining set, cast in solid bell-metal, hand-finished, and engraved with a small menagerie for the child who eats from it.
Launch price — first 100 customers
Free shipping · Composition published · Made in India
Why Tuoom
The assay puts this alloy at 78.43% copper and 21.15% tin — kansa, the bell-metal Indian kitchens have used for millennia. Brass is copper and zinc; the zinc here reads 0.084%. Solid bronze through and through, hand-finished, never coated.
A whale curled in the bowl, an elephant on the plate, a giraffe on the tumbler. Laser-engraved into the bronze itself, so the lines stay crisp and never wear off.
Solid bronze doesn't scratch out or warp like plastic. It darkens gently into a patina and gets handed down.
The Engravings
Each piece carries its own animal, laser-engraved into the bronze.
Bowl
Curled into the base of the bowl, surfacing only once the last spoonful is gone.
Plate
Reaching for a bunch of grapes at the centre of the plate — the first thing seen when the plate is set down, and there again once it's clear.
Tumbler
Standing tall between the turned rings of the tumbler, catching the light every time small hands lift it.
Little reasons to keep going — one more spoonful to uncover the whale in the bowl, one more bite to find the elephant on the plate.
Real Mealtimes
Dinner with a small child is rarely tidy — it's spilled dal, negotiated bites, and a plate that somehow migrates to the floor. Tuoom's kids thali is built for that version of mealtime: heavy enough to sit still on the table, warm enough to feel like something special, and solid enough to be dropped, banged, and loved a little too hard without complaint.
Material Comparison
| Kansa (Tuoom) | Stainless Steel | Melamine / Plastic | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Material | 78:22 copper-tin bronze | Steel alloy | Moulded plastic |
| Finish | Hand-finished, laser-engraved | Machine-pressed | Printed |
| Ages with use | Develops a patina | Stays uniform | Scratches and dulls |
| Traditional use in India | 3,000+ years | Modern | Modern |
| Composition | Lab-assayed 78:22 | Varies by grade (304/201) | Varies by resin |
| Lifespan | Decades, repairable | Years | Replaced periodically |
| Care | Hand-wash | Dishwasher | Dishwasher |
Material & Testing
Every claim on this page about 78:22 rests on one piece of lab work — an elemental composition assay of the alloy this set is cast from. Rather than summarise it for you, we publish the numbers, trace elements included. And we are equally clear about the test we have not run.
78 : 22 Alloy
78.43% copper and 21.15% tin, measured on the alloy this set is cast from. Together those two elements are 99.58% of the metal.
The Test
It measures what the metal is made of, element by element. That is what it does, and all it does. It is not a food-contact or migration test, and we do not present it as one.
No Coating
Nothing plated, lacquered, tinned or lined. Unlike pure copper vessels, kansa needs no kalai re-coating — and it means the metal the assay measured is the same metal the food touches, with no separate surface layer behaving differently.
Ages 6m – 7y
An 8-inch plate, a 100 ml bowl and a 120 ml tumbler, proportioned for a small reach and a small appetite. That range is a sizing and design recommendation, not a safety rating.
Supervision
Adult supervision is recommended for children under 3, as with any solid metal dinnerware. The set weighs about 700 g, and the pieces are hard and heavy for small hands.
The assay answers one question — what is this metal made of — and answers it element by element. Reading down the table, the zinc figure of 0.084% is worth pausing on: it settles a question worth asking of anything sold as kansa in India, since brass is copper and zinc, usually 30% zinc or more.
| Element | % by weight* | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Copper (Cu) | 78.430 | Base metal of kansa |
| Tin (Sn) | 21.150 | The second element — the copper-to-tin ratio is what makes bronze bronze |
| Phosphorus (P) | 0.093 | A standard deoxidiser in bronze casting |
| Zinc (Zn) | 0.084 | Brass is 30%+ zinc — this is not brass |
| Nickel (Ni) | 0.056 | Trace, from the copper feedstock |
| Iron (Fe) | 0.040 | Trace, from the copper feedstock |
| Antimony (Sb) | 0.024 | Trace, from the copper feedstock |
| Bismuth (Bi) | 0.023 | Trace, from the copper feedstock |
| Lead (Pb) | 0.010 | Trace impurity, see below |
Copper and tin together are 99.58%. Every other element listed adds up to 0.33%. The nine figures total 99.91%; the remaining 0.09% is balance the assay did not resolve into a named element. *Figures are from an elemental assay of a representative production sample. Kansa is cast in batches, and small variations between batches are normal; 78:22 is the nominal ratio the alloy is made to, not a per-unit guarantee.
The assay reports lead at 0.010% — one part in ten thousand, or 100 parts per million. We publish that figure rather than round it away, because a table showing only the flattering rows would not be worth reading.
Lead is not an ingredient in kansa. It turns up as a trace impurity in copper ore and in the feedstock alloys are made from, which is why copper alloys are specified with a permitted lead limit rather than as containing none of it at all.
What that number does not tell you is how much of it, if any, reaches food. That is a different question and it takes a different test — a migration test — and that is the one we are commissioning.
A composition assay says what a metal is. It does not say what transfers into food. That is a separate migration or leaching test, which puts the finished article in contact with a food simulant under set conditions and measures what comes off it. Claims about food contact rest on that test, not on this one. We have not run it, no independent body has assessed this product against a food-contact standard, and you will not find purity or food-contact claims anywhere on this page. Migration testing is commissioned, and the results will be published here in the same form — numbers first, whatever they say.
If you would rather read the assay yourself than take our summary of it, message us and we will send it over.
Ask us for the reportThe Tradition Behind The Table
Kansa is bell-metal — an alloy of roughly 78% copper and 22% tin. It is distinct from brass (copper and zinc) and from pure copper vessels; the specific copper-tin ratio is what gives kansa its characteristic golden-bronze tone, ring, and the properties Ayurveda has long associated with it.
Within Rasa Shastra, the Ayurvedic branch concerned with metals and minerals, kansa is traditionally classified as a Mishra Loha — a mixed or compound metal — placing it in a distinct category from single-element metals used in classical Ayurvedic practice.
Ayurveda holds that kansa has a naturally balancing effect across all three doshas — Vata, Pitta, and Kapha — which is part of why it was traditionally considered an appropriate everyday metal for the whole family, rather than suited to one constitution alone.
Eating from kansa is traditionally believed to stimulate and support Agni, the digestive fire — one of the most cited reasons kansa thalis have historically been the everyday choice at Indian meal times.
In Ayurvedic thought, kansa is considered a sattvic metal — associated with clarity, calm, and balance — and was traditionally favoured for daily dining and for offerings in temple settings for this reason.
Unlike the traditional beliefs above, this one is a measured property of the material: copper and its alloys exhibit the oligodynamic effect, a documented antimicrobial property of the metal surface itself. We note this as a property of kansa as a material — not as a medical claim about any Tuoom product.
Kansa dinnerware has anchored Indian household and temple dining for over three millennia, appearing across regional traditions from Bengal to Kerala — one of the longest continuously used metal-craft traditions in the world.
This isn't nostalgia — it's rediscovery. As households weigh what actually lasts, they are choosing materials that age well instead of wearing out, and a tradition once simply inherited is being examined on its own terms and kept by choice rather than by default.
Everything on this page describing Ayurvedic properties reflects traditional belief and long-standing practice, not medical claims. Tuoom makes no health or therapeutic claim for this product.
Gifting
Most gifts for a small child are outgrown within the year. A kansa set gets used at every meal, and is still in the family long after the child it was bought for has stopped being small.
A first birthday gift that is still on the table at the seventh.
For the first rice ceremony — the meal a kansa thali was made for.
Something lasting to mark the day a child is given their name.
Given before the baby arrives, waiting for the first solid meal.
Bell-metal has been the festival gift in Indian homes for generations.
The metal they grew up eating from, passed down a generation.
Message us if it’s a gift — we’ll make sure it arrives ready to give.
Kids Thali Set
Mealtimes with kids ask for something sturdy, a little bit magical, and easy to love. Tuoom's Kids Thali Set answers with real bronze — cast and finished the traditional way, then engraved with a small menagerie: a whale curled inside the bowl, an elephant on the plate, a giraffe standing tall on the tumbler. It's dinnerware that turns "one more bite" into a small discovery, without giving up the durability and warmth of solid kansa.
Ayurveda has long held kansa in particular regard as an everyday dining metal — traditionally believed to support Agni, the digestive fire, and traditionally considered a sattvic metal, associated with clarity, calm and balance. These remain traditional beliefs, not medical claims, and are offered here in that spirit.
Lab-assayed 78:22 copper-tin alloy (78.43% copper, 21.15% tin), hand-finished — solid bronze right through, never a coating over another metal. Every piece is cast and then worked by hand to its final polish, so small variations in tone and finish are normal. The animals are laser-engraved, which cuts them cleanly into the metal at a consistent depth — they are part of the bronze, not printed on top, so they will not scratch off or fade with washing.
† Each piece is cast and then finished by hand, so dimensions and weight vary slightly from set to set.
Four pieces: an 8-inch thali plate, a 100 ml katori bowl, a 120 ml tumbler and a spoon — packaged and ready to gift or use straight away.
Not yet, and we will not say otherwise. The lab work we hold is an elemental composition assay: it confirms the alloy is 78:22 copper-tin and reports every trace element found in it, and we publish it in full in the Material & Testing section of this page. Safety in food contact rests on a different test — a migration test, which measures what transfers from the finished article into food under set conditions. We have not run one. We hold no food safety certification, and we make no purity or toxicity claim for this set anywhere on this page. Migration testing is commissioned, and we will publish the results here whatever they show.
Kansa has been used for everyday Indian dining for thousands of years, and unlike pure copper it needs no tin-coating (kalai) to serve as a dining surface. Our lab work is an elemental composition assay: it confirms 78.43% copper and 21.15% tin, with every other element together under half a percent, and we publish it in full in the Material & Testing section of this page. It is a composition test and not a migration test — we have not run one — so it says what the metal is made of, not what transfers into food. In use: serve from it rather than store food in it, put very acidic or sour dishes in another vessel, and hand-wash and dry each piece after the meal.
No. Unlike pure copper vessels, kansa (bronze) does not require periodic kalai re-coating — the alloy itself is the finished dining surface.
Yes — a gradual, gentle darkening or patina is natural for solid bronze and is considered part of its character, not a flaw. Regular hand-washing and drying will keep the shine bright for longer.
Warm water and a mild dish soap, hand-washed and dried immediately with a soft cloth. For deeper shine, a natural tamarind or lemon-and-salt polish (a traditional Indian method) works well. Hand-wash only — it is not dishwasher safe, and as solid metal it must never go in the microwave or on an induction hob.
Yes, bronze handles both comfortably for everyday serving. Use it to serve rather than to store food, and serve very acidic or sour dishes in another vessel — like any copper alloy, kansa reacts with them. Avoid direct stovetop or open-flame contact.
The set is designed for ages 6 months to 7 years — from a baby's first solids through the early school years. Adult supervision is recommended for children under 3, as with any solid metal dinnerware: the set weighs about 700 g and the pieces are hard and heavy for small hands.
Launch price — first 100 customers
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