Antique Ornate Victorian 1890s Dutch Street Scene Repoussé Silver Plated Ashtray

Absolutely Superb Quality Ornate Heavy ((100g) Antique Victorian (1890s) Dutch Street Scene Silver Plated Repoussé & Chased Carving 4/10cm Ashtray.

Lovely quality. Very ornate and intricate. Well over 100 years old. It has aged beautifully. Silver plating is on copper and condition is commensurate with age so there are signs of use and wear to the silver plating in keeping with age.

If you are looking for this type of ashtray, this is a marvellous one and youd be hard pressed to many better.

Repoussé or repoussage is a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is ornamented or shaped by hammering from the reverse side to create a design in low relief. It is a form of toreutics.

There are few techniques that offer such diversity of expression while still being relatively economical. Chasing is the opposite of repoussé, and the two are used in conjunction to create a finished piece. It is also known as embossing.

While repoussé is used to work on the reverse of the metal to form a raised design on the front, chasing is used to refine the design on the front of the work by sinking the metal. The term chasing is derived from the noun "chase", which refers to a groove, furrow, channel, or indentation. The adjectival form is "chased work".

The techniques of repoussé and chasing use the plasticity of metal, forming shapes by degrees. There is no loss of metal in the process as it is stretched locally and the surface remains continuous.

The techniques of repoussé date from Antiquity and have been used widely with gold and silver for fine detailed work and with copper, tin, and bronze for larger sculptures. Classical pieces using this technique include the bronze Greek armour plates from the 3rd century BC.