In the third secret of our series, we briefly mentioned what happens before the graver is applied: the sketch must be transferred from paper to silver. Today, we show you what that looks like — because this step is one of the small, almost invisible secrets that make the Veliky Ustyug niello craft so unique.
A Candle Flame, a Piece of Silver
The first thing you see in the workshop pictures looks almost ritualistic: a woman holds a small, cleanly turned piece of silver over the flame of a beeswax candle. She holds it close enough for the soot to settle on the metal — but not so close that it gets hot. A calm, practiced movement. The silver gets a thin, velvety black layer: Kopát.
Why Soot?
You cannot draw on pure silver. It is too reflective, too smooth; the pencil slips. Centuries ago, the Veliky Ustyug masters found a solution that is as simple as it is brilliant: They make the surface matte — with soot. On the matted layer, the sketch can be pressed through from the paper, leaving a clear line that does not smudge as long as the piece is not touched.
In the second picture, you see the result: the soot layer is there, and a snowflake-like ornamental template is precisely pressed into it. What you see here will, in a few hours, become a V-shaped niello furrow — by hand, with a graver.
Lacquer as a Fixative
Before the graver is applied, there is one more step: the master artisan coats the ornamental lines with a thin lacquer. It fixes the template and protects it from accidental smudging. Only then does the cutting begin.
This is the point where the piece is "ready." Before this, it still has reserves — if the sketch doesn't fit, the soot can be wiped off, and everything can be redone. After the graver cut, this option is gone.
"Astra Gold" cutlery set for 6 people — 925 silver with niello, gilding. Every line on every piece once started with a soot layer and a Kopát step. View item →
Why This Is Important
If you ever hold a SevChern piece with niello ornament in your hand and examine the pattern, you have a line before you that has traveled a very old path. It was first designed on paper. Then the silver was sooted over a candle. Then the sketch was pressed into the soot. Then it was fixed with lacquer. Only then came the graver — and cut the V-shaped furrow, into which the black niello was later melted.
It is a step that is not extensively described in any textbook. It works because someone invented it 300 years ago — and because generations of master artisans have passed it down ever since.
→ More about the hand-engraving technique in Secret 3 · All 8 Secrets of the SevChern Manufactory