Carving Silver

For a while now, I have been trying to learn how to use engraving (images on the right) to essentially replicate the look of chasing and repousse (images on the left) but on a very small scale. This also enables me to work under the microscope, which I find much more comfortable. While it doesn’t have the same look, it is similar, and I love the detail that I can get with the engraving. One issue I’ve been having, though, is that I’m just not happy with the depth that I’ve been getting with the engraving, and I just love the organic look of the chased pieces. The images on the left were all chased, and the images on the right were done using a combination of engraving and sculpting.

Note: For those of you not familiar with chasing and repousse, these are techniques that use small blunt tools and a hammer to push the metal to form depth and create detail. The piece is worked from the back and the metal is pushed out to create the depth (repousse), and then the piece is worked from the front and details and textures are added (chasing). Engraving uses sharp tools (chisels) to remove metal to create depth. Traditional engraving is usually pretty flat, but the illusion of depth is created using shading lines.

Now that I’m back from my class in Italy and in my studio playing around with the new techniques I learned, I’ve discovered some tricks that allow me to get deeper cuts with the engraving. I’m very excited about the possibilities of this! With the amount of metal that I’m removing at this point, I think it would be considered carving (or sculpting) rather than engraving.