SIlver butterfly ornament

It was a pleasure to do this task.  Many years ago, one of my students, when I taught a silversmithing evening class, made a beautiful silver butterfly assembled from parts cut from sheet.  Another student made one too.  After complaints from one of his children, he started to make another, but alas never finished it.  I was asked to complete the project.

Silver butterfly ornament

It is actually built from sixteen pieces, but I have welded some of the parts together to make it easier to assemble and disaaemble for cleaning.

Silver butterfly ornament partsIt weighs about 27 grams and stands about 4-5cm high.  Cutting out the pieces takes ages and requires concentration, but is curiously relaxing as you can’t think about anything else!