In 1757, a young Silversmith, Paul Revere, returned to Boston from a short commission in the French and Indian War to become the new master of his family’s silver shop. Revere raised metal into shapes and pounded flat metal using hammers and anvils to create exceptional silver and gold vessels, flatware, buttons and buckles. A few master silversmiths continue practicing this vanishing craft and te
chnique at the Paul Revere House, Colonial Williamsburg, and at Peter Emerson’s Silversmith shop in historic downtown Brenham, Texas. Giant tree stumps serve as workstations for a curious variety of aged hammers, obscure tools and anvils where Peter Emerson creates unique masterpieces in the proven style of the old masters. This timeless process involves taking a flat piece of silver or copper and forming it over tools, called stakes, used to create a pattern. The artist meticulously hammers with the aid of chasing tools in order to create unique shapes and finishes. The process is similar in concept to throwing an urn from a ball of clay, but the technique of shaping metal with hand tools is significantly more time consuming. A second hollowware technique employed by Emerson is spinning. This process involves taking a disk shaped sheet of copper or silver and spinning it over a pattern on a machine similar to a wood lathe. Emerson uses special tools to form the disk over the pattern while it is spinning. Peter crafts a variety of jewelry using sterling silver, copper, bronze and Shibuichi – a Japanese silver and copper alloy. His preferred technique of lost wax casting involves creating metal jewelry from his original sculptured designs. After cleaning and finishing the jewelry, he often adds a hand hammered finish or patina to the surface. The ancient process of lost wax casting was the jewelry maker’s preferred method throughout many cultures until the 18th century, when more cost effective techniques gained popularity. In 1866, a gunfight between Brenham citizens and occupying Union forces escalated into the burning of a substantial portion of the downtown district. Brenham rebuilt and recovered, but with a network of underground cisterns to ensure water would be readily available to prevent future infernos. One of these historic cisterns is located inside a building that later became the Rex Theatre – Brenham’s first movie theater. In 1998, Peter Emerson purchased and restored the crumbling building into a silversmith’s workshop and retail gallery of silver and copper jewelry, pottery, and art glass creations. Peter Emerson earned his Bachelor of Fine Art in Sculpture from the University of Mississippi in 1992 and Master of Fine Arts in Metalsmithing and Jewelry Design from Indiana University in 1996. Emerson has studied art and jewelry making throughout the US, and exhibited his work for the Worship Company of Goldsmiths Exhibition in London, England. Peter has continued to study and teach at a lengthy list of university workshops on jewelry and design, watch making, sculpture, blacksmithing and 3D design. Emerson is constantly expanding his artistic talents into new endeavors including wood engraving, guitar making and fine watch design.
