Embossed Work

Punch decoration or repousse work is that kind of work on which designs are raised from the back by means of punches and hammers of many shapes and sizes. The work is usually on thin metal, and is either laid loosely or fixed on a bed of some substance which allows the metal to give, e.g. soft wood, pitch, plasticine, wax, block of lead, a bag of sand or plaster. The design is drawn on the metal and then scribed in so that as the work proceeds the outline remains visible. When high relief is desired it is better to raise the high parts with a hammer, laying the metal loosely on a sand bag; when the necessary amount of relief is obtained the work should be stuck on a bed of pitch, and worked up with punches. A good example of hammered and repousse work is the silver jug illustrated in Ch. V111 Fig. 5(1). This is from the Victoria and Albert Museum; other examples of this kind of work are also shown in Fig. 5.