metalwork

Introduction
General processes and techniques
- Hammering and casting
- Embossing, or repoussé
- Chasing
- Engraving
- Inlaying
- Enameling
- Gilding
Western metalwork
- Copper
  - Antiquity
    - Mesopotamia
    - Egypt
  - Middle Ages
    - Europe
    - Islām
  - Renaissance to modern
- Bronze and brass
  - Antiquity
    - Mesopotamia
    - Iran
    - Egypt
    - Crete
    - Greece
    - Etruria
    - Rome
    - Teutonic tribes
  - Middle Ages: Byzantine Empire
  - Middle Ages: Islām
  - Europe from the Middle Ages
    - Italy
    - Germany and the Low Countries
    - England
    - France
- Silver and gold
  - Antiquity
    - Pre-Mycenaean
    - Minoan and Mycenaean
    - Iran
    - Greek and Etruscan
    - Roman
    - Early Christian and Byzantine
  - Middle Ages
    - Carolingian and Ottonian
    - Romanesque
    - Gothic
    - Islām
  - Renaissance to modern
    - 16th century
    - Baroque
    - 18th century
    - Colonial America
    - 19th century
    - Modern
- Pewter
  - Antiquity
  - Middle Ages
  - 16th century to modern
- Iron
  - Early history
  - Belgium and Holland
  - England
  - France
  - Germany
  - Italy
  - Spain
  - United States
  - Mid-19th century onward
- Lead
  - Antiquity
  - Middle Ages
  - Renaissance to modern
Non-Western metalwork
- South Asia
  - Iron
  - Gold and silver
- Central and Southeast Asia
- East Asia
  - China
    - Bronze
    - Iron
    - Gold and silver
  - Korea
    - The formative years
    - The Three Kingdoms period (c. 57 bce–668 ce)
    - The Unified, or Great, Silla period (668–935)
    - The Koryŏ period (918–1392)
  - Japan
    - Bronze and other metals
    - Gold and silver
- American Indian peoples
  - Pre-Columbian
  - Southwest Indian
  - Modern
- Africa

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Plaque showing a warrior and attendants

Mycenaean dagger

Gloucester candlestick

Persian vase in the form of a fish

early Christian marriage casket

book cover of the Lindau Gospels

Gilt book cover

cast bronze baptismal font

For Students

book cover of the Lindau Gospels

metalwork summary

metalwork: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	metal processing

Photos and Videos

Plaque showing a warrior and attendants

Mycenaean dagger

Gloucester candlestick

Persian vase in the form of a fish

early Christian marriage casket

book cover of the Lindau Gospels

Gilt book cover

cast bronze baptismal font

Take a look at researchers studying Mississippians copper work from the Cahokian mounds in southwestern Illinois

Observe ancient techniques still employed by metalworkers in western Africa

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Topics

tooling Flecheln enamelwork bronze work copper work ironwork silverwork leadwork goldwork tinplate pottery interior design dress furniture calligraphy heraldry jewelry glassware mosaic tapestry

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Key People

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Piero del Pollaiuolo

Italian artist

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Jacques Caffiéri

French sculptor

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Philippe Caffiéri

French sculptor

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Antonio del Pollaiuolo

Italian artist

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Peter Vischer, the Elder

German artist

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Eva Zeisel

Hungarian American designer and ceramicist

saltcellar of Francis I

Benvenuto Cellini

Italian artist

Fabergé cigarette box

Peter Carl Fabergé

Russian jeweler

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Marianne Brandt

German painter, photographer and designer

Nicholas Hilliard: A Young Man Among Roses

Nicholas Hilliard

English painter

Figure 167: Sterling silver knife, fork, and spoon, designed by Georg Jensen, Copenhagen, 1916.

Georg Jensen

Danish silversmith

Nicholas of Verdun: Shrine of the Three Kings

Nicholas Of Verdun

Flemish enamelist

Prouvé, Jean: prefabricated gas station

Jean Prouvé

French engineer

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Maso Finiguerra

Italian artist

González, Julio: Head of Montserrat Screaming

Julio González

Spanish sculptor

de Lamerie, Paul: loving cup with cover

Paul de Lamerie

English silversmith

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Paul Storr

British goldsmith

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Theophilus

German writer and artist

Silver coffeepot by Hester Bateman, 1773–74; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Hester Bateman

British silversmith

Mantel clock of bronze, chased and gilt by Pierre Gouthière, 1771, after a design by Louis-Simon Boizot; in the Wallace Collection, London.

Pierre Gouthière

French metalworker