The History Of Copper Repousse

Unless you are a real art follower, chances are that you have never heard of metal chasing or "repousse".

So we wanted to share with you the history of copper repousse which is the specialty of this website's owners Alex and Vera Sizov.

We'll start off with the definition of what repousse is and then we'll get into the details of it's origins and bring you to where this wonderful ancient art technique is today.

According to answers.com, the definition copper repousse is:

"repoussé (rəpūsā'), the process or the product of ornamenting metallic surfaces with designs in relief hammered out from the back by hand. Gold and silver are most commonly used today for fine work, but copper and tin are suitable for the purpose, and bronze was extensively used in past times. The process is of ancient origin, having been employed by most early civilizations. Among the finest examples of repoussé are the famous bronze armor of Greece of the 4th cent. B.C., Byzantine religious works, and much of the gold and bronze work of Benvenuto Cellini. The process is distinct from embossing, in which the relief ornament is produced by use of dies."

History Of Copper Repousse

Long ago, in the Middle East, during the 3rd millennium BC, a myriad of semi-mass production methods were introduced to avoid difficult and repetitive free-hand work. Using the simplest technique, gold sheet could be pressed into various artistic patterns carved in intaglio into stone, bone, metal or even materials such as jet. The gold metal could be fashioned into artistic designs with wood tools or otherwise by hammering a wax or lead "force" over the front side of the piece.

Alternatively to pressing gold sheet into a die is to create it over a design in cameo relief. In this case, the detail would be greater on the reverse side of the final design, so some final chasing from the front was often done to sharpen the finer details. Using patterned punches dates back to the first days of the 2nd millennium BC, if not far before. The simplest patterned punches were made by spools or loops of wire. By Hellenistic times, combined punches and dies were in commonly used in repousse techniques. By 1400 BC, the Egyptian Amarna period, resin and mud for repousse backing was typical.

Interestingly, Greeks were using beeswax for filler in repousse in 400 BC.

Chasing techniques and repousse are commonly used in India to create useful things like water containers. The vessels are generally made by using metal sheets of copper or silver.

During the Hopewell and Mississippian periods of the American Southeast and Midwest goods of repousse copper were fashioned as festive ritual regalia and eventually used in prestige burials. Examples have been found with many designs such as arrow motif headdresses and even falcon dancer plaques.

Although examples have been collected in a widely expanded area (Spiro, Oklahoma, Etowah, Georgia, and Moundville, Alabama), most are in what is known as the Braden Style, thought to have originated at the Cahokia Site in the Collinsville, Illinois vicinity.

Today, metal chasing and repousse techniques are still taught. However, they are viewed as a "lost art" and if we do not take care to revive the technique in it's original form, we may either lose it completely or allow it to morf into something else, possibly something less.

That would be a shame.