House & Garden 
flat” are, how¬ 
ever, a different 
undertaking; 
especially where 
they are to have 
the proportion¬ 
ate depth, 
straight or in- 
w a r d sloping 
sides and nar¬ 
row mouths as 
illustrated in 
Mr. Martin’s 
work. In this 
me t h o d the 
metal is literally 
nursed into 
shape. A piece 
of sheet metal, 
the thickness of 
which depends on the depth to be attained, 
is held in the left hand, the near edge lying 
obliquely on a block of hard wood the surface 
of which is slightly concave. With a wooden 
or metal hammer in the right hand uniform 
blows are delivered on the metal, beginning 
near the outer edge. The metal is turned 
slowly, bringing each blow of the hammer just 
on the margin of each preceding one. This 
is continued around the circle, then circle 
within circle, 
until the center 
of the sheet is 
reached. Then 
the process is 
begun again and 
continued to 
the center. 
To the unin¬ 
itiated this may 
seem monoto¬ 
nous, but after 
long practice 
and experiment 
a workman be¬ 
gins to feel the 
metal alive in 
his hand. By 
varying blows, 
bv different sur¬ 
faces in the wooden block he can thin the 
metal here and nurse it into greater thickness 
there, and gradually evolve unwilling forms. 
When the approximate depth and shape 
is reached one of many forms of small 
polished anvils is placed within and the 
bowl is worked into the final shape by blows 
on the outer surface. In some instances, 
instead of using the anvil, the final shaping 
is done after the bowl has been filled with 
A SWEDISH BOWL OK BEATEN BRASS 
Seventeenth Century 
CASKET WITH PANELS OF SILVER REPOUSSE CASKET OF COPPER REPOUSSE 
Designed and Executed at the Busch Studios 
575 
