Edited by Charles D. Mickey
revi~i ted
Texas A8M at Galveston Galveston, TX 77553
Artistic Metalwork and Chemical Technology Charles D. Mickey Texas A&M University at Galveston. Galveston, TX 77553 The oractical use of metal. isolated and shaned bv means of hammering or casting, represents a technical conquest made by humankind that antedates recorded history. Metalworking was, a t first, a strictly functional activity; it was an extension of the creative arts that used wood, bone, stone, and clay to produce instruments, weapons, and utensils. Only secondarily did metal assume the artistic significance for which its qualities were, in a certain sense, intrinsically predisposed. This manifested itself first in the simplest forms of functional obiects and in the use of metals ioarticularlv. eold " and silver) for personal ornamental objects. Then, in a more decisive manner, metal became the chief material of decorative and figural artistic expression, lending its surface to design and its mass to modeline- .( I ). . In most ancient civilizations metalworking played an essential role in the ~roductionof specific classes of obiects which were characterized by their artistic development. These included arms and armor; coins and medals; emblems and insignia; liturgical and ritual objects; utensils and tools; and household objects. Finally, apart from all its functional applications, metalworking was identified with one of the most pre-eminent and universally diffused techniques of the visual arts, that of sculpture (2). Humankind's Fascination with Metals Metals have many physical properties in common, characteristics unequalled by any other form of matter, thuf making them an indispensable art medium. Metal objects can endure for centuries; consequently, they become both an inheritance and a cultural entity. Metals are intrinsically beautiful; when polished, they brilliantly reflect light. Moreover, they exist in a variety of colors ranging from the Dure white of silver to the vellow of " eold and the red of coooer. .. The natural colors of most metals are changed slowly by air oxidation: however. the color ranne can be extended infinitely In the ludi&!t. u3t.oichemit..d. tco art~lici.llly,.n,tic pottnn*
