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The gallery is where visitors apply what they have learned. Each object card includes title, date, attribution, medium, museum, accession number, technique tags, and a manufacturing note. All images link to official museum records.
6 objects from public domain / open access collections
1223 (620 AH)
Iraq, possibly MosulMaker: Ahmad al-Dhaki al-Mawsili (signed)
Medium: Brass inlaid with silver
Cleveland Museum of Art(1956.11)
Manufacturing: The ewer body was likely cast, then engraved and inlaid with silver wire and sheet. The maker signed his name, providing rare documentation of Mosul-associated workshop practice.
first half 14th century
attributed to Egypt
Medium: Brass inlaid and engraved with silver, copper, and black compound
The Metropolitan Museum of Art(91.1.600)
Manufacturing: The ewer combines raised and joined parts. The surface decoration follows a planned layout with inscription bands, medallions, and floral ornament.
late 13th–early 14th century
attributed to Egypt or Syria
Medium: Brass engraved and inlaid with silver and black compound
The Metropolitan Museum of Art(91.1.553)
Manufacturing: The basin was raised from sheet metal, then engraved with a planned program of inscriptions, zodiac medallions, and ornamental bands filled with silver inlay and black compound.
first half 14th century
attributed to Egypt or Syria
Medium: Brass engraved and inlaid with silver
The Metropolitan Museum of Art(91.1.583a,b)
Manufacturing: The candlestick was likely cast in sections, then assembled, engraved, and inlaid. Missing shafts or altered parts are common in surviving lighting objects.
1291 CE (690 AH)
YemenMaker: Rasulid princely commission
Medium: Brass cast and hammered, pierced, chased, inlaid with silver
The Metropolitan Museum of Art(91.1.535a-h)
Manufacturing: The astrolabe combines casting, hammering, piercing (for the rete), chasing, engraving (for scales and inscriptions), and silver inlay. Each component required different techniques.
late 17th century
Bidar, Deccan, India
Medium: Zinc alloy cast, engraved, and inlaid with brass (bidri ware)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art(1984.221)
Manufacturing: The body was cast from zinc alloy, then engraved. Silver or brass was inlaid into the grooves. The surface was treated with a chemical solution to blacken the base metal while polishing the inlay bright.
Workshop & Tradition
Scenes from living metalwork practice: tools, workshops, makers, and pieces under the hammer.
Seven steps to analyze any metalwork object