Metalwork is the shaping of metal, including gold, silver, bronze and iron, into objects of adornment, religious artifacts and trade instruments through techniques such as forging, casting, engraving and repousse and chasing. The oldest archaeological evidence of copper working is a copper pendant from northern Iraq dated to about 8,700 BCE.
Facts
MediumGold, silver, bronze, iron and other metals, shaped by forging, casting, engraving, repousse and chasing 1 Signature TechniqueTechniques including lost-wax casting, forging and granulation, the last occurring independently in numerous ancient cultures before any historical record of contact between them. 1 Place of OriginThe ancient Near East; the oldest archaeological evidence of copper mining and working is a copper pendant from northern Iraq dated to 8,700 BCE. 1 Notable ExampleThe Benin Bronzes, a celebrated corpus of West African metal sculptures and plaques made using lost-wax casting. 1 Connections
Associated With
cloisonne is a technique of the metalwork art form.
damascening is a technique of the metalwork art form.
filigree is a technique of the metalwork art form.
niello is a technique of the metalwork art form.
repousse is a technique of the metalwork art form.
Movements
The Arts and Crafts Movement revived hand-worked metalwork through guilds such as C. R. Ashbee's Guild and School of Handicraft.
Source Wikipedia
Works In This Form
Insular silver and gilt-bronze chalice.
Cast brass and bronze plaques and sculptures from the Kingdom of Benin.
Nordic Bronze Age cast-bronze cult object.
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationMetalworking, History section, Sheet (and tube) forming processes section and Prehistory section
By the above periods metalworkers were very skilled at creating objects of adornment, religious artifacts, and trade instruments of precious metals...Repousse and chasing...The oldest archaeological evidence of copper mining and working was the discovery of a copper pendant in northern Iraq from 8,700 BCE.
Metalworking, Sheet (and tube) forming processes section
Repousse and chasing
Metalworking, Prehistory section, copper pendant
The oldest archaeological evidence of copper mining and working was the discovery of a copper pendant in northern Iraq from 8,700 BCE.
Benin Bronzes, The works section
The metal pieces were made using lost-wax casting and are considered among the best African sculptures made using this technique.
Metalworking, History section, granulation
Sophisticated techniques were practiced by artisans, blacksmiths, atharvavedic practitioners, alchemists, and other categories of metalworkers around the globe. For example, the granulation technique occurs in numerous ancient cultures before the historic record shows people traveled to far regions to share this process.
Movements: Arts and Crafts Movement, Arts and Crafts movement article, Guild of Handicraft (C. R. Ashbee) section
The guild's work is characterised by plain surfaces of hammered silver, flowing wirework and coloured stones in simple settings.
- Works In This Form: Sutton Hoo Helmet
- Works In This Form: Gundestrup Cauldron
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