Goldsmith

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For other uses, see Goldsmith (disambiguation).

A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with precious metals, usually, to make jewelry, valuable flatware, platters, goblets, decorative and serviceable utensils, as well as ceremonial or religious items. Goldsmiths must be skilled in forming metal through filing, soldering, forging, casting, and polishing metal. Traditionally, these skills are passed along through apprenticeships, however, more recently some schools have begun offering courses in goldsmithing. Today, it is not uncommon for a goldsmith to study other arts in order to reflect the social implications of the products of the trade.

Gold and precious metals have been worked by humans in all cultures where the metals were available, either indigenously or imported, and the history of these activities is extensive. Superbly made objects from the ancient cultures of Europe, Africa, India, Asia, South America, Mesoamerica, and North America grace museums and collections around the world.

In medieval Europe goldsmiths were organized in guilds and were usually one of the most important and wealthy of the guilds in a city. The guild kept records of members and the marks they used on their products. These records are very useful to historians, where they survive. Goldsmiths often acted as bankers, since they dealt in gold and had sufficient security for the safe storage of valuable items. In the Middle Ages, goldsmithing normally included silversmithing as well, but the brass workers and workers in other base metals were normally in a separate guild since the trades were not allowed to overlap. Usually jewelers were goldsmiths.

The printmaking technique of engraving developed among goldsmiths in Germany around 1430, who had long used the technique on their metal pieces. The notable engravers of the 1400s either were goldsmiths, as was Master E. S., or the sons of goldsmiths, such as Martin Schongauer and Albrecht Dürer.

Goldsmith: a metalworker concerned especially with pieces of jewelry and fine decorative utensils of gold, silver, copper, bronze, and iron. (Brepohl, 2001, xiv)