Shibuichi - the word means "one-fourth" in japanese, which refers to the proportions of one part silver to three parts copper. This clasp is from Green Girls Studio in shibuichi, cast in the alloy of copper and silver.
Because of the increased copper in the alloy, shibuichi has a lovely patina ability to grant great colors of blue and green. This toggle set is from Zoa Arts in shibuichi silver.
Posted by Lynn Davis, who loves to patina silver and copper.
6 comments:
That is just gorgeous. I love the variation of the colors of the metal, like it has been unearthed. Thanks for sharing!
Enjoy the day!
Erin
www.tesoritrovati.com
Beautiful Clasps! I especially like the square one--the colors are amazing! Thanks for sharing. Alice
Beautiful! However,I don't see it on their webpage or Etsy site...How can we find out about this toggle?
So rich looking, I love this toggle, metal is amazing.
blog: http://zoaart.blogspot.com/
website:http://zoaart.com/
etsy: http://zoaart.etsy.com/
Thanks so much for mentioning shibuichi. It's a wonderful alloy mixture with a long history. The metal alloy was most often used for sword hilts on katana blades. These hilts were prized for their strength and for the metal's ability to hold detail well.
The coloring goes from pale peach, to cherry reds, to mahogany browns, to gray silvers. It's a beautiful material to work with.
And although the name literally means "Four parts to One" each artisan working with it has their own particular recipe they like to work with.
Some other artists who work in shibuichi are:
Bob Burkett
Lea Anne Hartman (available through Pumpkin Hill Beads)
Saki Silver (under Saki Shibu)
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