Copper

They are salmon copper, dark copper, dusky copper and black copper. Salmon copper is a light copper – salmon coloured as you might expect. Dark copper is a deeper version of the traditional copper colour.

Dusky copper has a greenish grey tone. It’s not unlike pewter to look at, except that pewter is grey with blue tones rather than green ones. Black copper is black with just the odd hint of a copper tinge. It polishes up very highly and looks to us like ebony. We love it.

Think of copper in nature. Copper reacts slowly with atmospheric oxygen to form a layer of brown-black oxide (think of church steeples). Unlike rust the brown-black layer actually protects the underlying copper from more extensive erosion. Copper is also important as an ingredient in the alloys brass and bronze – even gunmetal grey bronze.

Verdigris (copper carbonate) is a green layer which can often be seen on old copper constructions such as the Statue of Liberty. Metalier can artificially create verdigris on its copper metal finish, then neutralise the finish and seal it, if desired, so that the verdigris remains protected at just the level you want to preserve.

The use of black wax can instantly emulate the natural brown-black layer created by nature over a long period. It too can be preserved at precisely the colour required. The pearlescent effect also remains an all time favourite. Because copper is malleable and ductile it is a material which Metalier craftsmen enjoy working with.

And did you know that USA policeman were nicknamed coppers or cops because their uniforms used to have copper buttons!