Sterling Silver Ornaments

by Harry Smith

 

Harry makes these detailed three dimensional sterling silver Christmas ornaments entirely by hand. He first intricately carves the masters in hard green wax. This is done from drawings and an intuitive ability to see the third dimensional object in the block of wax. After the master wax is completed, the casting gates or sprues are added and the wax is invested in plaster. When the investment is hard the wax is burnt out in an oven at 1350 degrees F. The cavity that remains in the flask is then filled with molten silver. This silver “Master” is then polished and final details are added before a rubber mold is made of it. The resulting mold is then injected with wax and the process is repeated. Each casting requires a wax pattern which is lost in the casting process, thus the name “Lost Wax Casting”. After the final casting is done, it must be carved to add the final details then hand polished. Harry individually does every step in the process of creating his ornaments. Many pieces are decorated in 24kt. gold vermeil and precious stones. Each limited edition piece is signed, numbered and dated. then placed in satin lined box with a descriptive tag.

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©  All images copyrighted by Harry W. Smith. All rights reserved.