Four passes of the hammer

We sink the niello-black ground first, so every petal later rises out of shadow rather than sitting on a flat sheet.

Bright highlight, oxidized mid-grey, and the deep niello recess — a single silver tone would read as paper, never as pushed metal.

Panels mirror across the lid’s center seam; the lion-dog on the left answers the one chased on the right, plate for plate.

We chase the texture rather than polish it out — the tool’s trace is the proof a hand, not a press, raised this relief.