What we learned at the bench, written down.
Materials, process and the occasional admission. Written by the two people who make the work, which is why there is no schedule.
The guides
- Moroccan brass lightingHand-pierced brass chandeliers, pendants and lanterns: how they are made, how to size them, which bulb to use and how to tell the real thing.Guide + 5 articles
- Brass care and patinaHow solid brass, bronze and copper age, how to clean them, and why we leave them unlacquered.Guide + 3 articles
- Moroccan metalworkDinanderie, the Moroccan craft of hammered, pierced and chased metal — its techniques, its tools and the workshops that keep it going.Guide + 3 articles
- Buying from MarrakechCommissions, prices, shipping abroad and visiting a metal workshop in Marrakech.Guide + 2 articles
- Guides · 8 min ·
How to care for solid brass: the complete guide
Everyday care, removing tarnish, living with a patina, lacquered versus bare, and the few things that genuinely damage brass, bronze and copper.
- Care · 5 min ·
How to clean a Moroccan brass lamp
Dust once a month, polish once a year or never. The safe way to clean a pierced brass lamp, and the one mistake that damages it.
- Guides · 5 min ·
Which bulb to use in a Moroccan lamp
Clear or frosted, warm or cool, one bulb or several: what each choice does to the pattern a pierced brass lamp throws on the walls.
- Guides · 6 min ·
Hand-pierced or machine-cut? How to tell a real Moroccan brass lamp
Five checks that take two minutes: the holes, the repeats, a magnet, the weight and the joints. What each one tells you about the lamp in front of you.
- Materials · 6 min ·
Why we stopped plating anything
Plating hides the metal and fails first. What happens when you let brass age instead.
- Guides · 6 min ·
How to choose the right size of Moroccan chandelier
Three measurements and two rules of thumb: how wide, how tall and how high to hang a Moroccan chandelier or pendant in any room.
- Materials · 5 min ·
Brass, bronze or copper: what is the difference?
What each alloy is made of, how to tell them apart at a glance, how each one ages, and which to choose for what.
- Process · 6 min ·
How a Moroccan lamp is hand-pierced
From a paper pattern to thousands of punched holes: the six stages of making a pierced brass lamp by hand, and why no two come out the same.
- Process · 7 min ·
Anatomy of a forged bowl
Nine steps from a flat disc to a finished piece, and the one we still do wrong.
- Guides · 8 min ·
Moroccan metalwork: a guide to dinanderie
The craft of hammered, pierced and chased metal in Morocco: its techniques, its metals, its patterns, its cities and the way it is still passed on.
- Workshop · 5 min ·
Notes on repairing other people’s work
A century of brass hardware passed across our bench. Here is what lasted.
- Guides · 8 min ·
Buying handmade metalwork from Marrakech: a practical guide
Souk, workshop or online; what things should cost; how to check what you are buying; commissions; and getting it home.
- Commissions · 6 min ·
What a commission actually costs
The arithmetic behind a quote, and why the second piece is not half the price of the first.
- Guides · 5 min ·
Shipping a Moroccan chandelier abroad: what to expect
How a large brass lamp is packed, which carrier takes it, how long it takes, what customs will charge, and what to check about the wiring when it arrives.
- Materials · 5 min ·
Living with a patina
A twelve-month timeline for unlacquered brass, and the three points where people panic.
- Workshop · 4 min ·
A north-facing window
Why the light in a metal workshop decides what you are able to see, and therefore what you make.