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Chapter One. The Material Background |
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The manufacture of iron tools and of brass ornaments was not usually undertaken by the same craftsman, but there were many more blacksmiths than brass founders. In 1936 there was only one brass founder in Wakching, and he was a man who had immigrated from the Thendu village of Chi. He was a specialist in the manufacture of a particular type of brass, toothed armlet, and he sold his products to clients of many villages. While the lighter types of rings and armlets were produced by the hammering of red-hot sheet brass, the manufacture of heavy brass ornaments involved the use of molten metal and an expendable clay mold. |
