The other day I discovered unusual objects made of silver and gold, made by craftsmen from Russia, with a spectacular texture. For me, the “Nugget” metal processing technique is a discovery, and I hope you, precious readers, will find it interesting.
Russian gold and silversmiths created unique creations until 1917, when the revolution swept away all these works with the craftsmen themselves in a wave of bloody and tragic events.
It must be said that this type of art performed by Russian masters was valued abroad even more than at home.
The British and French were touched by silver objects “a la Russe”, with national motifs and skillfully executed engraving:
Silver objects by Faberge craftsmen are a separate matter...
We had an incredible number of techniques for processing, decorating and casting metals, as well as craftsmen (the permission issued by the state for independent mining of minerals contributed to this scale).
And so, I discover this little thing called “Russian silver case” and the word “Samorodok” is attached to it.
The surface made using the “Nugget” technique looks like this:
- In silver.
- In gold.
The result is an imitation of fabric and even a spontaneously obtained plant pattern can be seen:
The nugget technique produces a textured nugget effect that simulates a molten surface.
This result is achieved by heating gold or silver to a temperature close to the melting point and cooling it sharply in water.
It has always been considered high skill to make one material look like another material, so this box looks like it is made of leather or another material, but not metal, right?
More examples of interesting silver textures using the “Nugget” technique:
The number of objects made of silver and gold from Russian craftsmen for everyday use is a huge number, and not only representatives of the royal family and the bourgeoisie possessed such things, many could afford them... Russia was the richest country at that time.
After seeing the article, traders and media representatives rushed to comment. Traders, as usual, with the aim of selling something, representatives of the media with the aim of throwing mud at me.
Both commentators insist that today this technique is flourishing, called reticulation, popular, and I am misleading people.
Indeed, the process and decorations in the reticulation technique are similar:
Here are the modern decorations:
But I never published them on the channel and there was no desire to do so. Do not like. They don't inspire.
And here I will once again quote the works of past masters:
I hope my readers see the differences in craftsmanship? Before the revolution, the technique was called “Nugget”, since the surface became similar to the surface of native gold or silver:
Antique objects made using this technique are not designated - they are made using the “reticulation” technique (which will never be published on the channel), namely “nugget”, thereby paying tribute to the skill of jewelers of the past.
