| Working with silver is an extremely labor-intensive | | | | pasta maker, and then pull the wire by hand |
| process. It requires tremendous skill as well as | | | | through round holes in a metal stencil. They feed |
| large reserves of patience. An unsteady hand can | | | | the square blocks through progressively thinner |
| ruin the design in a blink of the eye and a | | | | slits in the same machine, continually adjusting the |
| moment too long under the torch can cause a | | | | rollers, until they have a thin sheet of silver called |
| lacy pattern to crumble. | | | | plate. |
| Balinese silversmiths put the same attentive care | | | | Next the silversmiths cut the plate with a saw |
| into each bead that they put into all aspects of | | | | into various shapes and sizes. They also use metal |
| their ceremonial life. The same hands that work | | | | stamps, called plongs, to cut out simple shapes. |
| metal with such exquisite skill weave intricate | | | | Circles can be hammered round in a shaping bowl |
| offerings of palm leaves and flowers, prepare | | | | and then soldered together to form beads. Other |
| towers of fruit and cakes to balance on their | | | | designs are made by hammering on metal caps |
| heads in processions and play instruments of the | | | | (pronounced "chops") which come in male and |
| gamelan orchestra in village rituals. | | | | female halves that mold the silver as it is |
| Perhaps it is this mingling of the secular and the | | | | sandwiched in between them. (Minoan smiths used |
| sacred that makes the Balinese people and their | | | | the same techniques to form gold beads.) Open |
| beautiful work so irresistible. A painter named | | | | work designs are made by sawing small interior |
| Batuan explained it to me one day, "to the | | | | holes in the sheet silver. To make filigree designs, |
| Balinese", he said, "all art is an offering to the | | | | the smiths solder thin wires together in iron bowls. |
| gods." | | | | The curve of the bowl determines the curve of |
| Dedicated craftsmen produce silver and gold | | | | the finished piece. |
| beads of mind-boggling detail and complexity. It | | | | Once the base shape is formed, the smiths apply |
| would not be an exaggeration to assert that each | | | | granulation, wire work and cut outs. They use a |
| bead is a work of art, a miniature masterpiece on | | | | paste made from little red beans called sego telik |
| par with archeological treasures from the distant | | | | to hold the design in place. Next, they brush |
| past. Indeed, the techniques used in Balinese | | | | solder, made from silver, copper and water, over |
| workshops are remarkably similar to those used | | | | the piece and heat it with a wide torch flame. |
| by bead makers in ancient Greece and Egypt. | | | | Using a wide flame allows them to heat a general |
| Like their ancient peers, Balinese smiths use only | | | | area without overheating any one point. The |
| the simplest tools in the production process. To | | | | Javanese use brass instead of copper in their |
| begin, they mix pure silver, in the form of little | | | | solder mixture. They apply it as a strip that runs |
| pellets, with a very small amount of copper, which | | | | smoothly down a seam, creating a very clean line. |
| makes it stronger. They add a touch of borax, to | | | | With the soldering complete, the smiths clean the |
| help the metals melt and to burn off impurities, | | | | silver with the sticky, astringent insides of a |
| then heat the mixture with a torch. When the | | | | tamarind fruit, then dip it into an antiquing solution |
| silver liquefies, they pour it into molds: a square | | | | which turns it black. As they polish the silver, |
| mold if the smith wants a sheet of silver or a | | | | raised designs become shiny while the background |
| round mold for wire. Once they solidify, the | | | | remains dark, a contrast which sets off the |
| smiths feed the round bars through progressively | | | | patterns beautifully. |
| smaller ridges in a rolling machine, similar to a | | | | |