Toreutics
{{Short description|Type of artistic metalworking}}
{{wikt | toreutics}}File:Situle (musée national de Slovénie, Ljubljana) (9428277598).jpg (Slovenia, 5th century BC)]]
The term toreutics, relatively rarely used in English, refers to artistic metalworkingAesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art Volume II (Aesthetics) by G. W. F. Hegel and T. M. Knox (1998) p.161How to Understand Sculpture by Margaret Thomas, Kessinger Publishing, 2005, p.25 – hammering gold or silver (or other materials), engraving, or using repoussé and chasing to form minute detailed reliefs or small engraved patterns.Hutchinson Encyclopaedia. Helicon Publishing LTD 2007 Toreutics can include metal-engraving – forward-pressure linear metal removal with a burin.Jewelry Concepts & Technology by Oppi Untracht (1982) p. 283
Toreutics is extremely ancient,How to Understand Sculpture by Margaret Thomas, Kessinger Publishing, 2005, pp. 25–6 and depending on the metal used will survive burial for periods of centuries better than art in many other materials. Conversely if above ground it was likely to be melted down and the metal reused. Until the Middle Ages it was also among the art forms with the highest prestige.
Archeological background
It was practised in the Bronze Age and was well established centuries before the shaft graves.Social Transformations in Archaeology: Global and Local Perspectives (Material Cultures) by Kri Kristiansen (1998) p.135 Toureutic items of special quality from the Iron Age are the Certosa situla from Italy and from Slovenia the Vače situla and the Vače belt-plate. Toreutics flourished to an unusual degree among the peoples of Asia Minor, Assyria, Babylon, and passed from thence to ancient Persia.The Cambridge History of Iran by I. Gershevitch (1985) p.154 One spectacular example of the direct influence of Persia in toreutics is believed to be the Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós found in Transylvania in 1799, and considered to be work of Old BulgarianA Short History of Modern Bulgaria by R.J. Crampton, Cambridge University Press, 1987 gold smiths. It consists of 23 vessels and has been attributed to Attila's Huns,The Empire of the Steppes, a History of Central Asia by Rene Grousset (transl. by Naomi Walford), Rutgers University Press, 2005, p.25 the AvarsWarriors of the Steppe by Erik Hildinger, Da Capo Press, 1997, pp. 57–92 and Pechenegs. The majority of scholars however, consider it Bulgarian (Proto-Bulgarians,Bulgaria – Land of Ancient Civilizations by Dimiter Dimitrov, Foreign Language Press, Sofia 1961, p.33 Bulgars), because of its runic inscriptions.Bulgarian's Treasures from the Past by Ivan Venedikov, Sava Boyadjiev and Dimiter Kartalev, Foreign Languages Press, Sofia 1965, pp. 345–55.
Etymology
Toreutics comes from Greek "τορεύς" which means "borer, pierceror". As is so commonplace in Greek, there is also an associated abverb, i.e. "τορευτικός"Sculpture: Some Observations on Shape and Form from Pygmalion's Creative Dream by Johann Gottfried Herder and Jason Gaiger (2002) which means "of or for metal work". In both cases the root is the verb "τορεύω" which means "to work in relief";Conspiracy of Catiline and the Jurgurthine War by Sallust (2004/6) p.62/72 to work in relief. As Ancient Greek extends back to the Proto-Indo-Germanic language in which the root is*{{Lang|mis|terə-}} which describes the art of working metal or other materials by the use of embossing and chasing to form minute detailed reliefs. The origin of the use of toreutics in the English language goes back to 1830–40; < Gk {{Lang|grc-latn|toreutikós}}, equiv. to {{Lang|grc-latn|toreú(ein)}} 'to bore, chase, emboss' (v. deriv. of {{Lang|grc-latn|toreús}} graving tool) -tikos.
Applications
- Greek style,[https://www.academia.edu/447495/Les_tombes_de_Derveni_quelques_remarques_sur_la_toreutique= Sideris, A., "Les tombes de Derveni. Quelques remarques sur la toreutique"], Revue Archéologique 2000, pp. 3-36. Inscriptions on toreutics[https://www.academia.edu/481269/Bronze_Drinking_Vases_Bearing_Dedicatory_Inscriptions= Sideris, A., "Bronze Drinking Vases Bearing Dedicatory Inscriptions"], Eirene 38, 2002, pp. 167-201.
- Achaemenid–Persian–SassanidAthens and Persia in the Fifth Century BC: A Study in Cultural Receptivity by Margaret C. Miller (2004) p.59. [https://www.academia.edu/447534/Achaemenid_Toreutics_in_the_Greek_Periphery= Sideris, A. "Achaemenid Toreutics in the Greek Periphery"], in Darabandi S. M. R. and A. Zournantzi (eds.), Ancient Greece and Ancient Iran. Cross-Cultural Encounters, Athens 2008, pp. 339-353. style, Christian toreutics,The history of the origins of Christianity: Volume 3 by Ernest Renan (2007) p.95 Folk craftsmanship, Bulgaria
- Beaten copperAntique Brass & Copper Identification & Value Guide by Mary Frank Gaston (1991) p.19 (Tibet)
- Tsuba gold toreutics (1860) Mito school.
Image:Potala-roof-toreutics80percent.jpg|Toreutics on the roof of Potala Palace (dragon head corner).
Image:Touretics-Dhvaja-wiki.jpg|Dhvaja on the roof of Sanga Monastery.
Image:Jewelry and clothing ornaments.jpg|Gold crafts from the Philippines prior to Western contact.
Image:BeatenCopper-Wheels70percent-wiki.jpg|Praying weels in Tsozong Gongba Monastery.
See also
References
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