Raw Urth Finishes | Pewter | Cast

Much like the Butterdish Pewter, the Cast Pewter relies more on texture than actual patina color for it’s interesting and aged look. When Pewter is done right, (which of course is the way we do it around here) an ingot is melted down and poured into metal forms to create the intricate trims and details needed for our hoods and counters. This process leaves pin head sized bubbles in the hot metal that we normally fill by welding Pewter into the voids for a perfectly smooth surface when that is the look needed for the design. However, there are plenty of times with the voids and imperfect surface texture is exactly what someone is looking for. Cast Pewter is wonderful in that it happen completely organically and can therefore never be replicated giving each piece it’s own unique details. For the areas of Pewter that we roll out instead of cast into molds, we can add more of the melted metal to the surface so that the texture flows with that of the trim. When applied in this fashion, the overall texture tends to be slightly more uniform although patches of the piece may have more or less of the porosity across the surface as it is hand applied with an artistic touch. After adding metal to the surface, we spend time sanding it back down where a hand or use would naturally rub the surface back over time giving a luster to those areas much like the natural oils of human hands rubbing across the surface would achieve over years of use.

Ultimately, this texture is quite reminiscent of an unrefined pewter piece one might find at an antique dealer in the streets of Paris. And by “unrefined”, we mean perfectly hand crafted.