Excellent and insightful comments as always Andrew.
I have been getting back to work after my 10 week sabbatical in Asia, and I was inspired to do this piece by Marcus's recent post about his Father's retirement.
This cutter has been disassembled in my toolbox for at least 15 years.
The background is blasted with fine aluminum oxide at about 25 psi, I was going to leave the background bright, but it picked up a couple of scratches, so after the work was done I blasted it to knock them back into the background clutter. Then I went over everything with steel wool to brighten the gold and make the grey less
" tender" or prone to scratches.
The leaves, well, this work, though quite different, is influenced by my observations of Ken Hunt on my visits to his London Studio. And, as I said earlier, I was inspired to do this piece by Marcus's recent post about his Father's retirement.
Ken used to do a lot of Damascene, which is another way to say "thin overlay"
Ken told me his sheet was in the .004" or thinner range, and that is what this is.
The leaves are overlayed, rather than inlaid.
Then they are sculpted, which would differ from Ken's usual technique, as he would single point it in the old days, or more recently, stipple the shading in with his gravermax.
The stems are done my way, which is by inlay, as they fall off so easily if overlayed.
Everything is raised, including the inlaid border.
A simple little job, but fun to pull out of the waist pocket when the brandy is poured and the cigars appear.
Good looking cutter Barry. The border is very precise, looks more difficult to do that way.
Soon you may be able to cut a Cuban legally here in the US with it
Barry, stunning piece. I love this kind of tendril and leaf design. Reminds me of Mannerist, or before the Baroque period.
If you are willing, please describe a little more. Here is one question:
You say gold overlay of .004".....is the steel underneath the gold sculpted and then overlaid? With gold that thin, there is little to sculpt before you go right through....
Question two, what is the gilded dome behind you in your avatar?
I told you you were onto something, remember? I was right!! That ought to knock their lights out when they get a gander as you gracefully clip that cigar with a definately true gentelman's cigar cutter. Makes me want to give up my pipe and smoke cigars.......HaHaHa
I like the look you ended up with! The combo of a soft, velvety gray and 24k gold is hard to beat especially when done as artistically as you have here.
Also, just my personal observation but; I have noticed on a couple of your most recent pics what looks to be a scroll variation that is quite identifiable as all yours...pretty cool!!!