Heirloom Vintage Brass Water Jug
Water stored in brass was a household practice across the subcontinent for centuries — not superstition, but understood. The vessel mattered. And so the vessel was made well: hand-engraved, given weight, given a form that sat properly on a shelf or a table and didn't look temporary. This brass water...
The Craft
Hand-Hammering
Raised from a flat sheet under thousands of hammer blows, the dimpled surface a record of the making.
Cutwork
Openwork lace pierced clean through the metal by hand with a fine needle.
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.
Used in this pieceSand Casting
Molten brass poured into a sand mould packed by hand, then broken open to free the piece.