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Al-Ahram Weekly 31 August - 6 September 2000 Issue No. 497 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 31 August - 6 September 2000 Issue No. 497
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters
Purple hearts and silver stars
By Fayza HassanAdib Mikhail is a sculptor. He is also a skilled engineer who has specialised in designing and producing medals and decorations. His small office-cum-workshop downtown, which I visited with artist Nagi, is filled with samples created to celebrate national and other special occasions. "Cutting medals, decorations, commemorative plaques and mementos," says Nagi, "is like making miniature sculptures." Mikhail works mainly with metals, which he cuts, bends, engraves, melts and sets in plaster moulds, before painstakingly polishing the final product by hand. The value of the piece, he explains, lies in the quality of the finish.
As a very young man, Mikhail learned the secrets of the trade from Khawaga Artin, who had a workshop in Shubra. Artin was not an easy man to approach, but he loved his cat and the young man found the way to his heart by bringing treats to kitty. Soon the Armenian craftsman was allowing him to watch as he worked. "After a while, he let me help in the preparation of the 'negatives'," says Mikhail. The design, sculpted in relief in a soft metal, is reproduced in plaster, to which the necessary corrections can be made. This preliminary plaster mould is then filled with molten metal and pressed mechanically to produce a solid shape -- the negative, which is a reproduction of the original but features the replicated hollowed-out forms of the relief. To accomplish this step successfully, the quality, thickness and malleability of the raw metal used in order to obtain the best result are crucial. The size of the finished article is also pivotal. "Nowadays, we have the possibility of refining, touching a piece up over and over, and increasing the accuracy of the negative with precision tools, which they did not know how to do in the past," points out Mikhail, "but this demands skill and experience. At any point in the process, the negative can be damaged irreparably. Now, however, we have learned to work on the texture, play on a contrast of rough and smooth surfaces to create depth and give a more realistic sense of perspective."
Once sufficiently improved, the negative is submitted to very high temperatures in special kilns (due to their prohibitive cost, these are only found in large metal works), whereupon it is polished once more -- with diamond points this time -- to arrive at maximum accuracy. The final decorative effects, such as embossing and repoussé work are added then. Once the negative is ready, it is submitted to several mechanical processes to ensure that it is endowed with the required strength before being pressed onto the bronze, silver or other metal that will compose the actual medal.
"You have to understand that we are dealing here with an enormous weight in the press, several hundreds of tons, aimed at altering the nature of the metal we are casting. This metal is heated at high temperatures, almost to melting point, in order to change it into a pliable mass before it is placed in the press. It is essential that our negative withstands the pressure, as we have to repeat the operation several times if necessary until we reach the desired result, since we cannot modify the finished medal except to increase its polish, oxidise it or give it a silver or gold bath."
Mikhail also produces medals, plaques and small statues for which the technique varies; some are cast in two pieces which are then welded together, while others are cast onto a plaster mould covered in wax and coated with precious metal according to a special process. The final product is then hollowed out by melting the wax and breaking down the plaster, "like the lions of the Qasr Al-Nil Bridge," he jokes. According to Nagi, who has also produced a number of commemorative medals, the craft is a panacea for frustrated metal sculptors. "Our dream, of course, is to make large statues and huge murals, but commissions for such items are few and far between, so in the meantime we produce miniature models of our dreams."
Clockwise from top:youngsters check out Hammamat Cleopatra; the museum of Rommel is one of the main attractions of the Mediterranean city; down by the sea...; a woman weaving a traditional carpet to be sold at the market
photos: Ayman Ibrahim
