The language of silversmithing has a long and rich history, terms like repoussé, chasing and annealing hint at the long history of silversmithing and the fabrication of items from metal. The following brief guide gives some insight into the skills of the silvermsmith and explains some of the terms used in the Silver Sounds exhibition.
The Art of the Silversmith
A silversmith is a person who works primarily with silver. Unlike blacksmiths, silversmiths do not shape the metal while it is red-hot but instead, work it at room temperature with gentle and carefully placed taps of their hammer. While silversmiths specialize in, and principally work, silver, they also work with other metals such as gold, copper, steel, and brass. They make jewellery, silverware, armour, vases, and other artistic items. Because silver is such a malleable metal, silversmiths have a large range of choices with how they prefer to work the metal. Historically, silversmiths are mostly referred to as goldsmiths, which was usually the same guild.
Silver is cheaper than gold, though still valuable, and so is very popular with jewellers who are just starting out and cannot afford to make pieces in gold. Silver has also become very fashionable, and is used frequently in more artistic jewellery pieces.
There are several different types of silversmiths. Some are involved in the fabrication of the metals, where items are typically cut and then constructed with differing connections, such as soldering or riveting. Others work in wax and then cast their pieces using a process called lost wax casting, where the wax original is evaporated in a burn-out process in a kiln. There are silversmiths who specialize in forging and forming, producing pieces that are typically made from a single piece of metal that has been hammered or formed under the pressure of percussion or squeezing from a press, such as a hydraulic press. There are silversmiths who only make jewelery and there are silversmiths who only make utensils.
Traditionally a silversmith gets its name from the production of "silverware" (cutlery, bowls, plates, cups, candlesticks). Only in more recent times has a silversmith expanded to work on jewellery, due to the similarity in techniques.
Silversmithing Techniques
Annealing
Annealing is a heat treatment wherein a material is altered, causing changes in its properties such as strength and hardness. It is a process that produces conditions by heating and maintaining a suitable temperature, and then cooling. Annealing is used to induce softness, relieve internal stresses, refine the structure and improve cold working properties.
Engraving
Engraving is the process of cutting shallow lines into metal with a sharp graver, reproducing artwork which has been drawn on a metal article. Unlike machine engraving, hand engraving removes metal when cutting. Bright cutting is another form of engraving which when viewed is very reflective because of its flat, angled cut.
Planishing
Planishing is the act of hammering or refining the surface of a metal object with highly polished hammer faces. This process refines the surface after raising and may be used as a decorative element. Great care must be used, for even a speck of dust will make an impression in the metal being hammered.
Polishing
Polishing is the process of refining a metal surface by use of abrasive compounds applied by hand or a polishing wheel attached to a long-spindled motorized arbor which runs at high speed. Various finishes may be obtained with a wide variety of abrasive compounds applied to the polishing wheels such as rouge this compound imparts the brightest finish. More abrasive compounds will produce less reflective finishes, emphasizing the object's form.
Raising
Raising is the technique of forming a flat sheet of metal over a cast iron stake or head, forming and compressing the metal to take a hollow form. This labour-intensive process is the purest form of silversmithing.
Repoussé
Repoussé or repoussage is a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is ornamented or shaped by hammering from the reverse side. There are few techniques that offer such diversity of expression while still being relatively economical.
Chasing
Chasing is the opposite technique to repoussé, and the two are used in conjunction to create a finished piece.
Whilst repoussé is used to work on the reverse of the metal to form a raised design on the front, chasing is used to refine the design on the front of the work by sinking the metal. The term chasing is derived from the noun 'chase', which refers to a groove, furrow, channel or indentation. The adjectival form is 'chased work'.
The techniques of repoussé and chasing utilise the plasticity of metal, forming shapes by degrees. There is no loss of metal in the process, as it is stretched locally and the surface remains continuous. The process is relatively slow, but a maximum of form is achieved, with one continuous surface of sheet metal of essentially the same thickness. Direct contact of the tools used is usually visible in the result, a condition not always apparent in other techniques, where all evidence of the working method is eliminated.
Sinking
Sinking is the process of hammering a flat piece of metal into a concave hemispherical shape in the top of a tree stump or any dished form. A small bowl shape is formed in the centre of the sheet producing a lip, enabling the piece to 'ride' the end of a raising stake, aiding in the raising process.
Soldering
Soldering is a low-temperature form of brazing. This technique is used for joining low-temperature base metals such as pewter and does not possess the strength of brazing solders when joining higher temperature metals such as silver.
Spinning
Spinning, a technique that originated in the early 19th century, can be used for most metals. A metal disk is set on a lathe behind an appropriately shaped metal or wooden chuck, and during rotation the metal is pressed onto the chuck with long-handled, polished steel tools. Britannia metal was often spun; a typical, modern spun object is the aluminum saucepan. As in most metalworking techniques, the metal is periodically softened by annealing, or heating, when it has become hardened through being worked.
