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The
Process
In making the copper vessels, the artisans
of Santa Clara del Cobre use recycled copper. They gather scrap
copper wire or buy it from the electric company and then melt
it down into large ingots of copper. These ingots are then divided
and hammered down into the shape of a fat, hard pancake. Using
these pancake sized pieces or “tejos” the artisans
begin heating and hammering the copper until the outer edges
begin to rise up and resemble a bowl.
The bowl, called a “vaso rústico”,
is then shaped with hammers, anvils, and stakes made by the
artisans themselves out of old automobile parts or rails from
railroad tracks. At first the artisans will hammer the piece
from the inside, but after the sides are raised, they will place
the vessel on a metal stake and begin to hammer from the outside.
The artisans use fire throughout the formation
of a vessel, which needs be heated over and over again. The
artisans then very slowly shape the piece by repeatedly heating
and hammering the copper vessel until it takes on the desired
form. No soldering, casting, or molds are used in this process,
and because of this, each vessel is unique.
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