This malachite arrived from Denmark this week. Thanks to Anders of the Experimental Historical Bronze Casting Group – see the internet does still have some good things. My intention is to try and smelt copper from it and I’m heading to the Scottish Sculpture Workshop to discuss options. It also occurs near to St Andrews, but I’ve yet to get any from this source. Malachite has been used to give copper for thousands of years.
This bowl is on display at Inspired at Goldsmith’s Centre as part of London Festival of Craft. The exhibition closes today, so hurry on down. The piece is sterling silver (probably nearer Britannia as I always add a bit more fine silver to the mix) on a pattern welded steel base.
I spent a couple of days in Sheffield working alongside Jen Ricketts at Brett Payne’s workshop in Yorkshire Artspace on a silver spoon.
This is the almost finished spoon.
I have already got it hall-marked as I was getting some bowls hall-marked for Inspired at Goldsmith’s Centre, London.
Amazingly it started as a small silver ingot like the one pictured. Under Brett’s tutelage I worked the silver hot, which makes it easier to hammer out.
The bowl is formed using a drop hammer. The bowl shape is formed in pewter first (using the drop hammer) and then the flat spoon end is placed over the pewter former and drop hammered.
I learned that spoons are flatware (only knives are cutlery) and lemmel is the sweepings from a precious metal workshop that can have the metal retrieved.
I now have 3 different ways of making spoons – above are the hot forged layered steel spoons which are hot forged mainly using a power hammer and the bowl is largely filed in with just a small amount of hand forging first.
Whereas the the bronze spoons are cast in sand from the iron spoons.
Some of my Damascus spoons are on show at the Fisher Gallery in Pittenweem.
juliacowie 