Article Outline
Metalwork, in the fine arts, objects of artistic, decorative, and utilitarian value made of one or more kinds of metal—from precious to base—fashioned by either casting, hammering, or joining or a combination of these techniques.
Metals have been used throughout recorded history for fine and decorative art. By the 1st century ad the metals in prime use today—iron, copper, tin, lead, gold, and silver—already had a long development that had begun some 10,000 years earlier with the working of copper. The distinction between precious metals (gold, silver, and—since the 18th century—platinum) and base metals (iron, copper, tin, and lead) dates from the ancient civilizations of the Middle East and prehistoric Europe. Gold and silver, sacred to worshipers of the sun and the moon, were at first reserved for ritual religious use, temple objects, and the jewelry and ceremonial accoutrements of semisacred figures such as the early Egyptian pharaohs, the Middle Eastern priest-kings, and the tribal chieftains of Europe from Spain to the Caucasus. As these rare materials became more plentiful, they proclaimed the status of a wider group, the elite in each society—its nobility and great warriors. The use of gold and silver was extended to personal adornment, to personal belongings, such as eating and drinking utensils, weapons and equipment, and even to such furnishings as mirrors, lighting stands, chairs, and beds. Gold and silver gradually acquired a quantitative value, which was ultimately expressed in the first coins, stamped gold and silver disks issued by the Lydians in Asia Minor during the early 7th century bc. The notion of coinage soon spread throughout the Middle East and into Greece, and ever since that time coins have retained the notion of beauty as well as value. The base metals iron and bronze were appreciated for their strength, especially for weapons and tools; copper, tin, and lead came to be used mainly for their utility or durability—for cooking, for storage, or for strengthening wooden constructions of many kinds. The particular property of metals—that they can be mixed or alloyed in various combinations and proportions to make better materials for particular purposes—was understood in the ancient world. Copper and tin produced bronze; lead and tin produced pewter. This property has been exploited with ingenuity and increasing scientific knowledge in the past 2000 years; thus, while the designations iron, copper, lead, silver, and gold are still commonly used, nearly every metallic product is, in fact, a highly complex and carefully formulated alloy. For the purposes of the fine and decorative arts, however, metals have been used either in their simple state or in uncomplicated alloys.
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Characteristics of Metalwork
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All metals share certain characteristics: a uniform smooth complexion; great strength and tenacity, but also easily worked surfaces; and malleability (their capacity to assume any desired shape). This inherent malleability of metals is exploited by pressure in its solid state or by molding when it is liquefied by heat. In addition, metals were the first reusable materials known (unlike stone, shell, or wood), since broken or obsolete metal objects can be melted down and the substance reused. This relative permanence came to be appreciated after the discovery of smelting in about the middle of the 5th millennium bc.
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Techniques of Metalwork
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The techniques of working metal developed very slowly and for long only in connection with the progress of metallurgy itself—the mining of a mass of metal from the earth. Scholarly opinion now holds that the first steps were taken after the adoption of settled ways of life—represented by agriculture and stock breeding—in northeastern Iran, the first area in which this occurred. In this area were native copper, metal-bearing rocks, malachite, and abundant timber, which allowed a steady progress of discoveries to be made. The Iranians learned the essentials of metalworking by using native copper; variations of the techniques were applied to other metals as they were recognized. A diffusionist theory is now generally accepted: The techniques were developed in northeastern Iran, but the products, and possibly also the producers, gradually were carried by trade and emigration to other areas. They went to the valley civilizations of Mesopotamia, across western Persia and through the east Mediterranean littoral to Egypt, across North Africa, and on into Spain. A second route lay from western Iran into Anatolia and then across the Hellespont to Europe. This diffusion began in about the 5th millennium bc and was continued for over 2000 years.
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