Repoussé and chasing

Repoussé (French: [ʁəpuse] ⓘ) or repoussage ([ʁəpusaʒ] ⓘ) is a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is shaped by hammering from the reverse side to create a design in low relief.

Many metals can be used for chasing and repoussé work, including gold, silver, copper, and alloys such as steel, bronze, and pewter.

These techniques are very ancient and have been extensively used all over the world, as they require only the simplest tools and materials, and yet allow great diversity of expression.

A few among many famous examples of repoussé and chasing are the prehistoric Gundestrup cauldron, the mask on the mummy of Tutankhamun, the body armours of the Bronze Age, the copper ornaments made by the Native Americans in the Southeastern United States, and the Statue of Liberty in New York City.

The techniques of repoussé and chasing date from Antiquity and have been used widely with gold and silver for fine detailed work and with copper, tin, and bronze for larger sculptures.

During the 3rd millennium BC, in the Middle East, a variety of semi-mass production methods were introduced to avoid repetitive free-hand work.

With the simplest technique, sheet gold could be pressed into designs carved in intaglio in stone, bone, metal or even materials such as jet.

The Gundestrup cauldron (a product of the Celtic culture, made between 150 BC and 1 AD) had originally thirteen separate silver panels, with repoussé relief, lining the inside and outside of the vessel.

Repoussage and chasing were used by many Pre-Columbian civilizations in the Americas, such as the Chavín culture of Peru (about 900 to 200 BC), to make ornaments of gold and other metals.

During the Hopewell and Mississippian periods of the American Southeast and Midwest goods of repoussé copper were fashioned as ritual regalia and eventually used in prestige burials.

Although examples have been found in a widely scattered area (Spiro, Oklahoma, Etowah, Georgia, and Moundville, Alabama), most are in what is known as the Braden Style, thought to have originated at the Cahokia Site in Collinsville, Illinois.

The pitch is heated until it is soft enough to make good contact with the metal, filling all its nooks and crannies, and then allowed to cool.

In this case pitch must be dispensed with, or replaced by some material (like sand) that can withstand the heat and provide the right kind of "giving" support.