Question on brightcut engraving

[samtron76df]

This may be a stupid question but I'm going to ask it anyway. I have seen some very well done engraving on spoons and holloware. Did an engraver use a template to mark the general outline of the engraving, or did they just wing it from experience?

There are always slight variations to each piece, but they are usually remarkably similar given the extent of some bright cut engraving. Just curious if anyone would know... tks

[Aguest]

::::: There's a video of Martha Stewart touring the Gorham factory, and it shows one of the last remaining bright-cut artists practicing his craft, he seems to have a wooden apparatus that swivels so he can return to the original position following each tiny cut of his engraving tool. ::::::

:::::: Overall I got the feeling that he had trained on a particular pattern and was repeating it over and over again, but the pattern was in his mind, and not a physical template, it really is an incredible skill, and I can't even imagine being a bright-cut artist assigned to a presentation piece like a huge punch bowl, if you screw up that engraving there is no way to erase your mistake! ::::::

:::::: Same thing as hand-painted porcelain and the enamelists who worked on silver, I think it was all free-form and they worked without a template ::::::

:::::: Maybe that bright-cut artist at Gorham knows more, he trained for many years and he might have some insider knowledge about bright-cut. ::::

[oel]

Also see;
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guilloch%C3%A9

Peter.