Damascus: Engravers

Date: c. 1890-1906

Arabic: Naqqāsh

Completed products are taken to the engravers to be decorated. The object is filled with pitch (zift) so it does not bend during the engraving process. A steel chisel (izmīl min ḥadīd) are used by the masters. Objects to be engraved include vessels, boxes, drinking cups, candlesticks, cupboards, and lantern. The products are often decorated with designs such as roses, trees, and birds.

Citation: al-Qasimi, Muhammad Saʿid, Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi, and Khalil al-ʿAzm (al-Azem), Dictionnaire des métiers damascains, ed., Zafer al-Qasimi. (Le Monde d’Outre-Mer passé et présent, Deuxième série, Documents III, Paris and Le Haye: Mouton and Co., 1960), pp. 486-87 (chapter 419).