Qissa Samovar - Copper Tea Dispenser with Warming Stand
In Peshawar's oldest bazaar — Qissa Khwani, the Street of Storytellers — tea was never a private thing. Traders off the caravans, storytellers, whoever took a seat: the qahwa was poured for everyone, and it stayed warm for hours, because the vessel it lived in was copper.That vessel was 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 pieceCutwork
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.
Sand Casting
Molten brass poured into a sand mould packed by hand, then broken open to free the piece.
Used in this piece