Kashmiri Copper and Brass: The Metalwork Tradition Behind Trami and Samovar

The samovar and the trami both point to something worth its own closer look: Kashmir's tradition of engraved copper and brass metalwork, a craft that shows up constantly in the objects that hold hospitality together.

Naqashi: Engraving as Decoration

Kashmiri copper and brassware is often finished with naqashi — hand-engraved decorative patterns cut directly into the metal surface, typically floral or geometric, echoing the same broader design vocabulary found in embroidery and papier-mâché.

Why Copper Specifically

Copper has long been favoured for cooking and serving vessels in Kashmir partly for practical reasons — it conducts heat well, useful for something like a samovar meant to keep tea hot — and partly because it takes engraving cleanly, allowing for the detailed naqashi work these pieces are known for.

The Trami, Revisited

The large shared plate used for serving wazwan is traditionally a copper or brass trami, often engraved along its rim or surface — a serving vessel that's as much a craft object as a functional one, particularly for pieces used at significant occasions like weddings.

Passed Down as Household Items

Well-made copper and brassware, much like samovars, is often treated as something worth keeping and passing down within a family rather than replacing casually — an investment piece in the same spirit as a good embroidered shawl.

A Craft Tied to Everyday Hospitality

Unlike some Kashmiri crafts that produce purely decorative objects, engraved copper and brassware is functional by design — built to be used constantly, for kehwa, for wazwan, for everyday cooking, rather than displayed and left untouched.

Metal Craft, Same Underlying Values

The engraving on a trami or samovar reflects the same patience and skill found throughout Kashmiri craft — just applied to metal instead of thread, wood, or paper, in service of the same hospitality traditions that define so much of daily Kashmiri life.