Pewter Ware of Kyoto

Since its establishment in 1838 Seikado has been making its mark in Kyoto’s history.

Pewter is soft enough to be easily bent by hand. To add strength to such soft material against easy bending, a hammer is used to beat the pewter  to tighten the molecule structure, producing minute undulations as a result. It also changes the way the surface looks and improves the way it feels to touch. This was how the technique to create three-dimensional shapes from pewter was developed.

There are generally three types of pewter  modeling method. Despite being the same as that used in other metal crafts, the basic technique passed down from ancient times takes advantage of the characteristics of pewter.

The beautiful shine of pewter comes through once the rough surface is sanded down and polished. This is often down by placing the pewter ware sideways on the rokuro spinner, using a sharp knife called kanna to smooth out the surface.

Here are tools used to sand and polish pewter. The kanna knife is made to order by a smith. The number of craftsmen who make tailored tools are decreasing every year.

The finished shining surface is covered in dents that look like fish scales. Using a hammer with a polished head, the pewter  is repeatedly beaten. This is perhaps the one technique that allows metal to shine at its best.

This style best allows the creator’s style to come through.  A flat-headed hammer is used to beat the metal randomly in the same direction to create a texture resembling the bark of a cedar.

Being easily melted, old pewter ware objects have been melted for recycling. Recycled pewter is beaten out, soldered together, polished, and repeatedly repaired as pewter wares get passed down from one generation of users to the next.