Artful Metals — The Forever Antiques

Every antique dealer has heard it before: “O, I can’t have antiques in my house.” The remark usually comes from someone accompanying a buying customer, and the reasons vary: “I’ve got kids (or visiting grandchildren, or cats)” or, simply “I’m such a klutz.”
My stock answer to this lately is to point out all the neat and beautiful items made of metals. “These are the forever antiques,” I tell them. “You’ve got to work at it to do them any serious damage, and look at how unique and interesting they are.”
Some metal objects have been collected for decades: brass candlesticks, bookends, door stops, door knockers, incense burners, figural napkin rings, etc. With such items, however (with the possible exception of the candlesticks) the artistry is often in the mold.
These days I’m encouraging everyone to notice those pieces where the art is in the metal work. These things are often very labor intensive to produce, and require such skill that we should all be paying more attention to them. Here are jsut some examples:
Cloisonne (KLWA-zohnay), from the French “cloisonne,” meaning “partition,” is a technique in which an intricate design is created on a metal object using thin copper or silver wire.
The partitions, or cells, created by the wire are then filled with various colorful enamels. When you consider how much intense work was required to create these pieces, it’s a shame to stroll by them in the shops without stopping to appreciate them.
The same is true with champleve (SHAHM-levay) work. That word means “raised field,” and with it the metal, bronze or brass, is literally carved in a design, some or all of which is filled with enamel.
Although their names are French (the language of decor), both of those techniques are Oriental in origin, as are mixed metal wares. This is a technique where the craftsman combines metals, usually brass, bronze, copper and/or silver. Japanese sawari (sah-WAH-ree) wares are a good example, where metals are hammered into religious scenes.
During the Arts and Crafts Movement of the turn of the century, many European and American craftsmen produced objects in a variety of metal techniques, including hammering and surface treatments, where a patina is created using chemicals.
I usually think of the age of artful metals to be from 1970 to 1930, but recently I have noticed an interest is enameled metal creations made mostly by Italian craftsmen between the 1930s and the 1950s. They produced ornaments fruit and flower arrangements, candlesticks, candelabra and chandeliers that show real hands-on artistry.
Other metal techniques to look for include: tole (painted tin), and hammered metals, like repousse work.
The next time you are in an antique shop, pay special notice to the metal craft. We owe it to those long-ago artists who took hours and even days to create them. And go ahead, don’t be afraid to pick them up.
Mark your calendar. If you would like to have some of your things appraised, I’ll be in Stone Harbor on Saturday, May 7 between 12 noon and 2 p.m., and Sunday, May 8 between
1 and 3 p.m. The Stone Harbor Chamber of Commerce is setting me up at a table to do appraisals during those hours at their “Sail Into Summer” coastal living show along 96th Street and Second Avenue. Hope to see you there.
Arthur Schwerdt, a certified appraiser, is the author of “The Antique Story Book,” and co-owner of The August Farmhouse Antiques on Route 9 in Swainton. Send your comments, questions and appraisal requests to aschwerdt@cmcherald.com.