The name can sound like something exotic when called Repousse' or it can sound very complicated and messy when called : a Sculpture in metal.

Repousse' simply means "embossed" the process of tooling or pushing the metal sheet out from behind to form a relief design.

The art of Repousse' is an ancient creative craft which has its roots back in the IXth or Xth century in the Byzantium lands, an architectural style developed in the eastern Roman Empire.

Strictly the word Repousse' applies only to work done from the back, chasing being the term used for work done on the front of the metal. In the course of time Repousse' has come to mean work in relief produced by punches, irrespective of the exact method of their use.

Repousse' work must be in thin metal, and flat, or at most gently curved, while heavy, solid results are quite obtainable.

Repousse' work "proper" can be done in one of two ways, either by placing a thin sheet of metal over a wooden dummy, and hammering it until the metal takes on the desired form, or by drawing the design directly onto the metal and then pushing it out freehand from behind.
Work done in this way needs the cavities to be filled with a plaster, modelling clay, tile cement or other type of filler.

The technique:
The copper used is annealed and case hardens as it is worked. This gives a degree of hardness to the finished sculpture, even so it must be filled with resin or other suitable hard filler to protect from damage.

The process starts with a lightly done outline drawing gently scribed onto the copper in reverse to finished requirement. This can then be worked on from both rear and front of copper. You emboss from the rear and put the relief in from the front. Great care must be taken as the copper is only 0.0006 of an inch thick and is hardening as it is being stretched to achieve the embossed effect.
The highest points of the sculpture must be done first, therefore with a face the nose is the first section to be done. All the work is done changing from a soft surface to a hard surface, where necessary.

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