Mokume Gane (Woodgrain Metal) Bowl (M21)
Catalogue Record
Collection
Maker
Alistair McCallum
Title
Mokume Gane (Woodgrain Metal) Bowl
Made in
Rotherhithe
Date
1980
Description
Narrow blue bowl with carved abstract patterns exposing laminations of copper and brass.
Materials and techniques
This bowl is made from fused copper and gilding metal (red brass). The sheets of the two metals are flattened, cleaned and stacked in the desired sequence. They are then clamped between two heavy steel plates, then placed in a coke-fired furnace with a reducing atmosphere. When the correct temperature is reached the block is removed and lightly tapped with a wooden mallet. The steel plates are then removed and the block is hot forged to a quarter-of-an-inch plate. The pattern is then carved into the surface, and then the metal is milled to the correct gauge for raising. A disc of metal is then cut and raised into shape, planished, cleaned, coloured, and bees waxed.
Dimensions
height: 5.1cm
diameter: 4.3cm
Object number
M21