Hand-Cast Brass Urli and Diyas

Details

Sand-cast brass from Moradabad, turned and finished: a shallow urli for water and flowers, and diyas in sets of four. Brass-plated zinc and brass-plated iron are visually identical to solid brass once polished, and they are the standard substitution in Indian brassware because plate over a cheap casting costs a third as much. The check is weight, and it is decisive, because brass is 8.5 g per cubic centimetre against 6.6 for zinc alloy. A 20 cm urli in solid brass weighs about 850 g; the same shape in brass-plated zinc weighs about 660 g, and in brass-plated iron it sticks to a magnet. So the weight of every piece is printed here, which is the only reason a printed weight is worth anything. The second issue is lead. Free-cutting brass carries up to 3 percent lead to make it machine easily, and an urli holds standing water while a diya holds burning oil, so that is the wrong alloy for both.

• Solid cast brass, roughly Cu 65 and Zn 35, not brass plate over zinc or iron
• Weight printed for every piece, which is how plating is caught at home
• Lead under 0.1 percent by ICP-OES, no free-cutting brass
• Wall 2.5 mm on the urli, turned true on a lathe after casting
• No lacquer. Most brassware is lacquered to hold a showroom shine, and the lacquer flakes within months, after which the piece tarnishes in patches under it and cannot be polished without stripping
• Unlacquered brass darkens. It will go from bright yellow to a warm brown over a few months and come back with tamarind or with lemon and salt. If you want it permanently bright you will be polishing it every few weeks, and that is the honest deal with real brass.