Greetings all. I’m a bit confused about something and I knew you
fine people would probably have an answer of some kind for me. I
recently saw a show on Public Television where a group of artisans
were tasked with refurbishing some ancient Bhuddist temples in the
Himalayas. One part of the show (about 20-30 seconds worth) showed
an individual crafting a slightly -larger-than-lifesized face of the
Bhudda from a sheet of copper. They could have dedicated the whole
show to that one aspect from my point of view but…Oh well. This
wasn’t work done with a pitch bowl that I could see although it may
have been part of the process not shown. There was definitely some
hammerwork being done but again ,I only saw a very small segment,
and I didn’t get a look at the tools and/or stakes (if any) being
used. A local jeweler, bless his heart, insisted that it had to have
been done using a pitch bowl and was all chasing and repousse’. I’m
confused here.
It looked like what I would call raising or “forming” but I’m not
sure. What the process is called isn’t nearly as important to me as
the actual work itself. I’ve done a little chasing and repousse’ but
I want to learn the fine art of shaping voluminous forms from sheet
type metal. If you know what it’s called I’d like to know but I
would really like to know some good reference materials that would
give detailed on the processes involved. Anyone out
there know of a richly detailed book or books on the subject? I
really want to know a lot more about this type of metalsmithing.
Everything I’ve tried so far has been less than good and I think it
may have a lot to do with my ignorance of tools and techniques.
Small simple forms haven’t been hard but more complex work (like
faces) leaves me in the dirt. Any recommendations or enlightenment
would be very greatly appreciated. I’ve got some copper and brass
screaming for an artistic encounter with a hammer.
Thanks.
Mike