Hollowed-out line impressed into the thin gold sheet
Axehead Spearhead Bulla Figure 21.5 The repoussé technique. Figure 21.4 Late Bronze Age objects.
pieces together with gold solder had not yet been developed in Ireland. Early decorative techniques were quite simple and direct but carried out with great precision and flair.
Repoussé was a technique used to create a raised design on a flat surface. A thin sheet of gold which had been cut to shape was laid face down on a firm surface so it could be worked on from the back. (In modern times, a leather sandbag or a bowl of mastic would be used by goldsmiths.) A pattern could then be created on the surface using tracers (chisel-like tools with a variety of shapes cut into the tip). These were pressed or hammered into the surface to produce a design. With the work completed, the sheet of gold was turned face up to reveal the design projecting from the surface. The work required careful craftsmanship, as a careless stroke could tear the thin gold sheet and the work would have to be started again (Fig. 21.5).
Incision: Decoration was incised (cut into the surface) with a scriber (a sharp pencil- shaped bronze tool (Fig. 21.6).
Hatched triangles Border of chevrons Cross-hatched band
Figure 21.6 A close-up of an area of incised decoration on a lunula.
Pottery
A wider range of pottery shapes and designs were created during the Bronze Age. Pots were better built and more evenly fired, although still completely handmade (see Fig. 21.1).
Bronze Age Structures
(Architecture) Bronze Age human settlements (houses and fences) seem to have been made of wood that has rotted
300 NEW APPRECIATING ART IRELAND AND ITS PLACE IN THE WIDER WORLD
