Zareen Silver-Plated Brass Vase with Marble Sphere
Zareen means precious, and this is three precious things brought together: silver filigree, a semi-precious stone, and a turned sphere of black marble. It's made by hand in Lahore, the silver-plated brass pierced and worked into fine filigree, a semi-precious stone set into it, the whole thing balanced on the...
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.
Used in this pieceEngraving / 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.