Turkish coppersmiths strive to keep traditional crafts vibrant amid modernization challenges

(Xinhua) — Copper craftsmanship used to be well established in Türkiye’s Anatolian history. Today, however, Turkish coppersmiths are striving to keep the tradition alive as its existence is threatened by modernization. In capital city Ankara’s suburban Golbasi district, at the shore of the Mogan lake, lies a shop specialized in copperware owned by Cafer Keles and his son Celal. Copperware sold there includes small Turkish coffee pots, cauldrons, and decorative objects made over several months.

Some large handicraft pieces can cost an interested customer several thousand U.S. dollars. The 55-year-old Cafer learned his skill from masters more than 40 years ago in Samanpazari, Ankara’s old town, where professionals in every type of handicraft used to be found. “Our profession later succumbed to technology.

Steel has started to become popular, but I am still one of the masters trying to keep the profession alive,” he told Xinhua in a recent interview at his workplace. Although new materials have replaced copperware in kitchens nowadays, there was a revival of interest in copper cookware, especially the tin-lined types, thanks to its use in popular cooking game shows. Copper pots and pans heat up quickly and can retain the heat for a long time, allowing people to cook food in a more efficient way, Cafer said.

However, excess intake of copper is poisonous, that’s why the cookware should be covered with a shiny, silver-colored tin, he added. Cafer demonstrated how the tinning is made: the molten tin is poured into the copper utensil, swirled, and brushed artfully around it for a couple of seconds. Once it has cooled, a coat is formed. Kitchenware made from tinned copper and brass such as bowls, plates, cooking pots, and serving dishes were common household items in the Ottoman and republic eras.

Many old pieces were subsequently found in antique shops in Türkiye and abroad and sold for their exquisite craftsmanship. However, coppersmithing has lost blood in Türkiye over the years as there are only three copperware experts left in Ankara, and sadly the younger generations are not interested in this labor-intensive profession, Cafer lamented. “Young people prefer office jobs. Working and sweating in a copper shop day in and day out is not their cup of tea,” he said. But there is still hope for the future.

“Besides cooking game shows, television series about the Ottoman period have also contributed to the comeback of copper utensils,” said Celal. “When people saw these objects on their screen, they started calling us, inquiring about copper kitchenware and we explained how healthy cooking with them is,” he pointed out. Cafer Keles is not ready to quit the fight for more copperware yet. “I’m 55 years old and I will continue to do this profession until my final years, until I am physically unable to do it, until the grave,” he said. —