# Toreutics

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Type of artistic metalworking

Look up ***[toreutics](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/toreutics)*** in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Toreutics on the [Vače Situla](/source/Va%C4%8De_Situla) (Slovenia, 5th century BC)

The term ***toreutics***, relatively rarely used in English, refers to artistic [metalworking](/source/Metalworking)[1][2] – hammering [gold](/source/Gold) or [silver](/source/Silver) (or other materials), engraving, or using [repoussé and chasing](/source/Repouss%C3%A9_and_chasing) to form minute detailed reliefs or small engraved patterns.[3] Toreutics can include metal-[engraving](/source/Engraving) – forward-pressure linear metal removal with a [burin](/source/Burin_(engraving)).[4]

Toreutics is extremely ancient,[5] and depending on the metal used will survive burial for periods of centuries better than art in many other materials. Conversely if above ground it was likely to be melted down and the metal reused. Until the [Middle Ages](/source/Middle_Ages) it was also among the art forms with the highest prestige.

## Archeological background

It was practised in the [Bronze Age](/source/Bronze_Age) and was well established centuries before the [shaft graves](/source/Shaft_graves).[6] Toureutic items of special quality from the [Iron Age](/source/Iron_Age) are the [Certosa situla](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Certosa_situla&action=edit&redlink=1) from Italy and from [Slovenia](/source/Slovenia) the [Vače situla](/source/Va%C4%8De_situla) and the [Vače belt-plate](/source/Va%C4%8De_belt-plate). Toreutics flourished to an unusual degree among the peoples of [Asia Minor](/source/Asia_Minor), [Assyria](/source/Assyria), [Babylon](/source/Babylon), and passed from thence to [ancient Persia](/source/Ancient_Persia).[7] One spectacular example of the direct influence of Persia in toreutics is believed to be the [Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós](/source/Treasure_of_Nagyszentmikl%C3%B3s) found in [Transylvania](/source/Transylvania) in 1799, and considered to be work of Old [Bulgarian](/source/Bulgaria)[8] gold smiths. It consists of 23 [vessels](/source/Marine_vessel) and has been attributed to [Attila](/source/Attila)'s [Huns](/source/Huns),[9] the [Avars](/source/Pannonian_Avars)[10] and [Pechenegs](/source/Pechenegs). The majority of scholars however, consider it [Bulgarian](/source/Culture_of_Bulgaria) ([Proto-Bulgarians](/source/Proto-Bulgarians),[11] [Bulgars](/source/Bulgars)), because of its [runic](/source/Rune) inscriptions.[12]

## Etymology

Toreutics comes from [Greek](/source/Greek_language) "τορεύς" which means "borer, piercerer". As is so commonplace in Greek, there is also an associated adjective, i.e. "τορευτικός"[13] which means "of or for metal work". In both cases the root is the verb "τορεύω" which means "to work in relief";[14] to work in relief. As [Ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek) extends back to the [Proto-Indo-Germanic language](/source/Proto-Indo-European_language) in which the root is****terə-* which describes the art of working metal or other materials by the use of embossing and chasing to form minute detailed reliefs. The origin of the use of *toreutics* in the [English language](/source/English_language) goes back to 1830–40; < Gk *toreutikós*, equiv. to *toreú(ein)* 'to bore, chase, emboss' (v. deriv. of *toreús* graving tool) -*tikos*.

## Applications

- [Greek](/source/Greek_art) style,[15] [Inscriptions](/source/Greek_inscriptions) on toreutics[16]

- [Achaemenid](/source/Achaemenid_art)–[Persian–Sassanid](/source/Persian-Sassanid_art_patterns)[17] style, Christian toreutics,[18] Folk craftsmanship, Bulgaria

- Beaten copper[19] ([Tibet](/source/Tibet))

- [Tsuba](/source/Tsuba) gold toreutics (1860) Mito school.

		- Toreutics on the roof of [Potala Palace](/source/Potala_Palace) (dragon head corner).

		- [Dhvaja](/source/Dhvaja) on the roof of [Sanga Monastery](/source/Sanga_Monastery).

		- [Gold crafts from the Philippines](/source/Arts_in_the_Philippines) prior to Western contact.

		- Prayer wheels in [Tsozong](/source/Tsozong) Gongba Monastery.

## See also

Look up ***[toreutics](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:Search/toreutics)*** in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

- [Goldsmith](/source/Goldsmith)

- [History of decorative arts](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_decorative_arts&action=edit&redlink=1)

- [Persian-Sassanide art patterns](/source/Persian-Sassanide_art_patterns)

- [Preslav treasure](/source/Preslav_treasure)

- [Shoami](/source/Shoami)

- [Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós](/source/Treasure_of_Nagyszentmikl%C3%B3s)

- [Umetada](/source/Umetada)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Hegel, G. W. F. (1998). [*Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art*](https://archive.org/details/aestheticslectur0001hege). Vol. II. Translated by Knox, T. M. p. 161. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0198238177](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0198238177).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** *How to Understand Sculpture* by Margaret Thomas, Kessinger Publishing, 2005, p. 25.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** *Hutchinson Encyclopaedia*. Helicon Publishing LTD 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Untracht, Oppi](/source/Oppi_Untracht) (1982). *Jewelry Concepts & Technology*. p. 283.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Thomas, Margaret Thomas](/source/Margaret_Thomas) (2005). *How to Understand Sculpture*. Kessinger Publishing. pp. 25–6. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9354415016](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9354415016).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Kristiansen, Kristian; Rowlands, Michael (1998). *Social Transformations in Archaeology: Global and Local Perspectives (Material Cultures)* (1st ed.). p. 135. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.4324/9780203984550](https://doi.org/10.4324%2F9780203984550). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-2039-8455-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-2039-8455-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [Gershevitch, I.](/source/Ilya_Gershevitch), *The Cambridge History of Iran* (1985) p. 154.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Crampton, R. J., *A Short History of Modern Bulgaria*, Cambridge University Press, 1987.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** [Grousset, Rene](/source/Rene_Grousset) (2005). [*The Empire of the Steppes, a History of Central Asia*](https://archive.org/details/dli.pahar.3379). Translated by Walford, Naomi. Rutgers University Press. p. 25.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Hildinger, Erik, *Warriors of the Steppe*, Da Capo Press, 1997, pp. 57–92. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-8851-1943-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-8851-1943-8).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Dimitrov, Dimiter P., *[Bulgaria – Land of Ancient Civilizations](https://archive.org/stream/BulgariaLandOfAncientCivilizations/bulgaria_ancient_djvu.txt)*, Foreign Language Press, Sofia 1961, p. 33.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** [Venedikov, Ivan](/source/Ivan_Venedikov); Boyadjiev, Sava; Kartalev, Dimiter (1965). *Bulgarian's Treasures from the Past*. Sofia: Foreign Languages Press. pp. 345–55.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** [Herder, Johann Gottfried](/source/Johann_Gottfried_Herder) (2002). [*Sculpture: Some Observations on Shape and Form from Pygmalion's Creative Dream*](https://archive.org/details/02-herder-sculpture-some-observations-on-shape-and-form-pages). Translated by Gaiger, Jason. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0226327531](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0226327531).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** [Sallust](/source/Sallust), *Conspiracy of Catiline and the Jurgurthine War*, (2004/6) p. 62/72.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** [Sideris, A., "Les tombes de Derveni. Quelques remarques sur la toreutique"](https://www.academia.edu/447495/Les_tombes_de_Derveni_quelques_remarques_sur_la_toreutique=), *Revue Archéologique* (2000), pp. 3-36. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2307/41017402](https://doi.org/10.2307%2F41017402). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [41017402](https://www.jstor.org/stable/41017402).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** [Sideris, A., "Bronze Drinking Vases Bearing Dedicatory Inscriptions"](https://www.academia.edu/481269/Bronze_Drinking_Vases_Bearing_Dedicatory_Inscriptions=), *Eirene* 38, 2002, pp. 167-201.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** [Miller, Margaret C.](/source/Margaret_C._Miller), *Athens and Persia in the Fifth Century BC: A Study in Cultural Receptivity*, (2004) p. 59. [Sideris, A. "Achaemenid Toreutics in the Greek Periphery"](https://www.academia.edu/447534/Achaemenid_Toreutics_in_the_Greek_Periphery=), in Darabandi S. M. R. and A. Zournantzi (eds.), *Ancient Greece and Ancient Iran. Cross-Cultural Encounters*, Athens 2008, pp. 339-353. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-5216-0758-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-5216-0758-2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** [Renan, Ernest](/source/Ernest_Renan), *The history of the origins of Christianity*: Volume 3, (2007) p. 95.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Gaston, Mary Frank. *Antique Brass & Copper Identification & Value Guide*, (1991) p. 19. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0891454780](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0891454780).

Authority control databases International GND National Japan Other Yale LUX

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Toreutics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toreutics) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toreutics?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.