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One of the latest fashions in decoration art is for hammered metal work. Like most of our present decoration it is but an old— a very old— fashion revived. Benvenuto Cellini, who lived early in the sixteenth century, did much to develope this art in its various branches.

To the uninitiated the idea of hammering metals does not seem very attractive, for it looks like very hard work. But such is not the case. The sheet brass which is principally used comes in a great many degrees of thickness, some of it being very thin. Many of the sheets can readily be sawed by the fret saw into the desired shapes, the embossed or repoussee pattern being then hammered in.

The materials for this work are some pieces of sheet brass, preferably thin, a tool called a tracer, a chaser's hammer and one or more grounding tools. The brass is sold by weight at about thirty-five cents a pound, the tools twenty to thirty cents each. A piece of smooth board is also needed, and a few screws.

Before beginning to work at a pattern, it is absolutely essential to learn to use the tracer well. Metal work differs from most other kinds of decoration in this one thing, it is almost impossible to rectify a wrong stroke. Take some scraps of brass—those left after sawing out a plaque or bellows cover, or whatever other object you may intend working-and having drawn straight 142