Design Guide Online Editorial

Today, Iron Age Studios is talking with Design Guide about repousse. No, it is not a French dessert. Repousse is a metalworking technique, in which metal, usually brass or copper, is hammered from the reverse side to create a raised design on the front. 

Iron Age Studios uses this technique on chandeliers, doors, furniture, railing elements, etc. Often they use repousse to create scenes and illustrations of various designs or animal forms. This metalworking technique is becoming a lost art form amongst designers in the U.S.

There is no other metalworking technique that produces such fine details, according to Iron Age Studios. One of the things they love most about repousse is that each hammer stroke and each touch of a tool is evident, unlike machined metalwork where every trace of a tool is erased.  

• Rachel Duke's blog

Related terms: Art, Designers, Ornamental Iron, Specialized Service

by: Rachel Duke