BharatNotes Toreutics
noun (uncountable, treated as singular)Usage in a UPSC answer
The Kushana-period silver reliquary caskets and gold ear-ornaments discovered at Taxila display sophisticated toreutic craftsmanship, combining Gandharan Hellenistic motifs with indigenous Indian iconographic forms in repoussé relief work.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
toreutics (noun), toreutic (adj), toreutist (noun — one who practises toreutics), repoussé (related French term — related technique noun), chasing (related technique noun)
Root
Greek toreutikos (of or relating to working in relief); from toreuein (to bore, to work in relief) + -ics
Etymology
From ancient Greek toreutikē (the art of embossing metal), adjective of toreutēs (a worker in metal relief), from toreuein (to bore through, to work in relief), related to toros (a boring tool). The term entered English and French scholarly vocabulary in the Renaissance period when humanist scholars recovered ancient Greek texts on the arts. Pliny the Elder discusses toreutica as a noble art in his Naturalis Historia (1st century CE).
Memory Hook
TOREUTICS = TORE-U-TICS: to TORE (bore/carve) metal. Think of a craftsman boring and hammering a gold bowl to make a beautiful raised lion — the art of making metal TELL a story in relief.
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