Islamic coins: Sand casting

Figure3.18 - Adams, Z., (2019). Zikr Umla. Brass and copper sand cast coins.

For the technique of sand-casting, I made multiple coins in brass, copper and gilding metal. Sand-casting is a type of casting I had not tried before, but hearing about the process and outcome made me curious to try it. I thought that the mold, being made of sand, would leave a sand-like texture to the surface of the object that is cast, which I would like to see on the coins.

Sand casting is quite a quick but messy process, considering that from start to finish, one could cast an object in under an hour. For sand casting, I used the following items: Casting sand, a two-part aluminum flask, a wooden dowel, a cement scraper, a 7mm drill bit, and a board to work on (see figure 3.19). The method of sand casting essentially involves creating a mold of your piece in casting sand that is well compressed by packing it using the wooden dowel, then creating a channel with the drill bit for the metal to flow to the piece and then proceeding to cast.

Figure 3.19 - Adams, Z., (2019). Sand casting equipment.

The result was beautiful. I was very happy with the way the coins had cast. The coins have the effect I was trying to achieve which is to look old and slightly damaged because of years of use. Some coins did not cast fully, because my metal was not melted correctly. These coins I found even more interesting because they look like very old coins that have pieces broken off. One word I could use to describe these and the other sand-cast coins is "relic".

Sevan Bıçakçı

Figure 2.12 - Bıçakçı, S., (2011). Gold ring with micro painting, intaglio and stone setting

Figure 2.13 - Bıçakçı, S., (2014). Gold and silver ring showing off micro mosaic and intaglio.

Sevan Bıçakçı's rings capture so beautifully the essence of Turkish Islamic architecture, which is the beautiful Masjids, the calligraphy and the scene of the land. Bıçakçı uses some complicated techniques like intaglio carving, micro-mosaic and miniature paintings in his pieces (see figure 2.12 and 2.13). Each ring is hand made from start to finish and can take on average two to three months to complete (Doulton, M 2011).

What I like about his pieces is that they tell a story or flaunt a scene of an ideal day around a Turkish Masjid, which can be quite poetic. If I were to describe his pieces, I would say that Bıçakçı's jewellery is like miniature sculptures or landscape/scenery painting.

Bıçakçı's jewellery depicts Islamic architecture in a very literal way; it is self-referential. Since I began researching for this paper, I have been thinking of different ways that architecture can influence the design and construction of a piece of jewellery. I thought it might not be interesting to make miniature models of architectural structures because it would not be a creative piece. After seeing some of Bıçakçı's pieces and learning about how much skill and time goes into creating such a piece of jewellery, I see how it can be interesting to represent an object by recreating it in a different form and on a different scale. 

I do not intend to use the techniques that Bıçakçı has used to create his pieces, but I do want my jewellery to tell a story just as his jewellery does. I will also be open to creating pieces that are scaled up or down versions of the original.