Toreutics millennia-old art: Minister

Tehran, Dec 5, IRNA – Minister of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism of Iran Ali-Asghar Mounesan said on Saturday that toreutics is a millennia-old art that became popular in the Achaemenid era and reached its climax in the Sassanid era. Toreutics is the art of hammering patterns and pictures onto surfaces of gold, silver, copper, brass, or other metals, with the use of a chisel-like device called a burin or a graver. Mounesan added that the artists first cover one side of the surface they intend to put the picture on with a solution of tar or plaster to quieten the hammering down. It also helps them avoid piercing the thin metal. Researchers believe the art started in Shiraz. But now there are different styles of toreutics in Shiraz, Esfahan, Boroujed, Tabas, and other Iranian cities.