Design Resource
Silver Sheet Embossing
The Art of Making Silver Idols
by
Making Process
The manufacturers make silver sheets for the embossing work on orders. Silver blocks or biscuits are melted and converted in to silver rods and rods are passed through rolling millers, which converts the rod into required thickness of silver sheets. Sheet manufacturers are available in the local area of Belgaum. Initially a measurement of the idol for the embossing work is taken and artisan draws the sketch of the product on a paper. Sketch of the idol is cut and imposed on the silver sheet to cut according to the drawn shape. Sometime artisans directly draw the design on the silver sheet and cut accordingly. With the help of hammer and chisel, the cut sheet is hammered very gently, so that the required embossing can be achieved, but the sheet remains intact without any cuts and holes.
A composite mixture of lacquer gum, sandarac, brick dust and oil is heated and poured on silver sheet and allowed to cool till it becomes hard, like wax, which is called as “Rala” in the local language. Rala acts as base for the sheet to emboss the design by chiseling the basic shape of the idol’s face. Again the composite mixture is poured on a wooden slab and article is fixed and the hammered from the other side to give depth to the design. This process is repeated till all the sketched patterns are embossed accurately on the silver sheet. Minute detailing is done with different types of small and sharp chisel.
The parts of the product are embossed separately and soldered together and article is washed in acid to remove the impurities and polished with soap nut solution giving the product shine and luster. Silver embossing has been for generations learnt by their ancestors and makes embellishment work of idols with silver, gold and even brass metal
