Peshawar artisans keep centuries-old copper craft alive despite dwindling demand

PESHAWAR: Residing in the heart of Peshawar’s historic Qissa Khwani Bazaar, master copper artisans continue to preserve a shimmering, hand-carved fragment of the old city's identity. Though not as plentiful as before, copper items still hold a place in hearts of locals and tourists alike. 

In the narrow lanes of Peshawar’s historic Qissa Khwani Bazaar, there is a constant metallic clinking sound, as if the beating heart of the old city. It is the sound of master artisans striking copper sheets, keeping alive a legacy that spans generations.

Saad Saeed runs a copper and brass shop that has belonged to his family for four generations. Established roughly a hundred years ago by his grandfather and great-grandfather, the shop is a shrine to copper items. 

Every inch of the two-story shop is covered in copper. On the walls, on shelves, on the floor, even hanging from the ceiling, customers have to tread carefully inside the shop. 

Saad recalls a childhood in the 1980s and 1990s when the bazaar looked entirely different. "All these shops you now see nearby selling steel and silver utensils used to be copper shops," he remembers. Back then, tourists and locals alike frequently visited the bazaar, drawn to the brilliant sheen of hand-carved copper.

The craft requires immense patience. A single hand-carved piece, featuring traditional Kashmiri floral patterns or Beet Mathar designs, can take an artisan anywhere from 20 to 25 days of detailed, daily labor. It is painstaking work, entirely by hand. 

The cooking utensils range from pots and pans to spoons, forks, and beautifully decorated glasses, the metallic reddish-orange shining vibrantly in the designs. But the decorative items are a world unto themselves, ranging from small thimble-sized pieces to huge 6 x 6 feet decorative plates with every inch covered in delicate designs, mostly Mughal or Central Asian motifs. 

Historically, these items were indispensable. Most people in the ancient city of Peshawar used copper utensils. Families routinely gifted entire sets of copper and brass  as wedding dowries. It was part and parcel of everyday life. 

But in the last many years, the demand has slowly dwindled as the cost has risen exponentially. These days, most people who buy copper utensils or decorative items are tourists or people who have a passion for beautiful workmanship. 

Down the street from Saad’s copper shop, another artisan named Musharraf has dedicated his life to this trade. "I used to weld car parts, but I had a passion for working copper," he says, his hands worn from decades of molding raw sheets into functional and decorative art pieces. 

From massive cooking pots, known as degs, used for large communal cooking, to delicate cups and intricate household items, Musharraf’s workshop processes raw copper sheets brought in from cities like Gujranwala. 

The sheets are cut using established patterns, slowly shaped and molded, soldered, and finished with a traditional tin plating called kalai.

Beyond its aesthetic appeal, copper holds a unique place in traditional health practices. Musharraf notes that copper naturally eliminates germs, making it a far superior choice to modern alternative materials. In fact, his belief in its hygiene benefits is so absolute that his own home is devoid of steel or silver; every single household utensil his family uses is made of copper.

Interestingly, science agrees with this bit of traditional wisdom. "Nowadays, doctors are writing it in prescriptions for patients," Saad says, noting that people are frequently advised to cook, eat, and drink water exclusively from copper vessels to improve their health due to the antimicrobial properties of the metal.

Despite this medical endorsement, the market faces steep challenges. Severe inflation has driven up the cost of raw copper. But orders from international markets like Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Canada, and the United States help the artisans continue their work.

As mass-produced plastic, steel, and glass dominate the market, the local sale of copper has dwindled. Yet Saad does not believe the skill will completely vanish, as a dedicated few refuse to let it go. Those who love copper utensils and art, still continue to buy. 

For now, the artisans of Qissa Khwani continue their quiet resilience, striking the metal day after day, determined to preserve a shimmering fragment of Peshawar's soul.