By Kyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
Kyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
Seikado
Since its establishment in 1838 Seikado has been making its mark in Kyoto’s history.
Features
Pewter is an excellent rust-resistant material with substantial weight.
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.
Pewter has been used to make tableware such as sacred sake bottles, sake implements and tea containers.
Seikado: Pewter ware of Kyoto (2018) by SeikadoKyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
Production method
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.
Casting by pouring molten pewter into a mold.
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.
The beautiful shine of pewter comes, Pewter ware of Kyoto (2018) by SeikadoKyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
The shining surface beams with a sense of cleanliness. This type of ware is called hikimono.
Tools
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.
Beating out the texture
The pewter is beaten with a hammer and shaped (this is called uchimono). Various hammers are skillfully used according to the desired thickness, size, shape and weight.
Circular dents texture
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.
Rock texture
The head of a hammer is used to beat small dents into the metal sheet, creating tiny undulations resembling the surface of a rock which is rough to the touch.
Cedar texture
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.
The appeal of pewter
The appeal of pewter lies in its aesthetic light blue shine and feel of cleanliness unlike any other metal.
The aesthetics of pewter, Pewter ware of Kyoto (2018) by SeikadoKyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
The dents, scratches and distortions produced from long years of use contribute to the aesthetic of pewter ware.
Tea container and a ketttle, Pewter ware of Kyoto (2018) by SeikadoKyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
Even the smallest dent or scratch from use are cherished by the user.
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.
Supported by:
・Seikado, Genbei Yamanaka
Text by:
・Nana Kitano
・Miho Sanda
Video provided by:
・ Kengo Takayama (A-PROJECTS)
Photography by:
・Dr. Shinya Maezaki, Associate Professor, Kyoto Women's University
・Nana Kitano
English Translation by:
・Eddy Y.L Chang
Project Director:
・Dr. Shinya Maezaki, Associate Professor, Kyoto Women's University