Triangular brass tray with hammered centre and cutwork edges, made in Lahore

Aaliya Cutwork and Hammered Brass Tray

$80.00

Two old crafts meet on this one tray — the hammer that beats brass into a dimpled centre, and the needle that pierces its borders into lace. It's made by hand in brass in Lahore using techniques older than the homes it'll sit in: the centre beaten by hammer, the...

The Craft

Hand-Hammering

Raised from a flat sheet under thousands of hammer blows, the dimpled surface a record of the making.

Used in this piece

Cutwork

Openwork lace pierced clean through the metal by hand with a fine needle.

Used in this piece

Engraving / Qalamzani

Cut into the metal line by line with a fine steel chisel, the qalam.

Naqsheen

Floral and geometric patterns chased into the surface freehand by the naqash.

Sand Casting

Molten brass poured into a sand mould packed by hand, then broken open to free the piece.