Your First Brass: How Should You Use It?

Do you like old things?

This time, we're taking a closer look at the material known as "brass." It's a metal with an understated, antique-like shine, often used in furniture and building materials—yet surprisingly, we tend to know very little about its properties or how to care for it.

The way it changes slowly and gently as it ages might be a quality unique to metal.

Metal tends to conjure images of something hard and cold, but there's also a strange, wonderful side to it: once a human hand has touched it, it somehow begins to feel warm.

This time, we're focusing on the interior design brand FUTAGAMI to explore the material of brass.

Copper and zinc, in a ratio of six to four.

If you look up "brass" in a dictionary, you'll find something like: "An alloy of copper and zinc, also known as koudou or oudou (yellow copper)." The standard ratio is roughly 6:4, though the balance and any additives are adjusted depending on the properties desired.

Because brass resists corrosion and is easy to work with, it has been used since ancient times across a wide range of fields—architecture, shipbuilding, furniture, and more. The material also has a soft texture and an elegant luster, and it boasts a long history as a material for fine art crafts and Buddhist ritual objects.

The brass item closest to our everyday lives is probably the 5-yen coin. Some are bright and shiny, while others have taken on a deeper, blacker sheen after many years. As this coin shows, brass resists corrosion, yet the more it's used, the more its surface oxidizes, developing a distinctive character that grows to feel at home with the person using it and the place it inhabits.

This photo shows trivets of various shapes. You can see that, through use, they've turned black in places from contact with human hands and the air. This surface oxidation is exactly what gives rise to that distinctive texture—in other words, the flavor of aging over time.

Solid Brass Is the Way to Go

FUTAGAMI's items, in particular, are made from "solid brass" (muku), without any plating or coating.

At first, the pieces are bright and shiny, but as you use them, their color gradually deepens. The more they're used, the more the surface oxidizes, developing a distinctive character and letting the material's inherent beauty come through even more.

FUTAGAMI's pieces are also made using a technique called sand-mold casting (sunagata imono), so another characteristic feature is the "cast texture" (imohada) left behind by the sand mold. The distinctive sandy grain, coloring, and wear patterns are all proof of "solid brass."

The Japanese word muku (無垢) is written with characters meaning "without" and "impurity/grime"—hence "solid" or "pure."

A bottle opener or chopstick rest made of solid brass, fresh out of the box, has a certain purity to it. From there, exposed to air and touched by human hands, its surface character gradually changes. Naturally, some of the "grime" (aka) of hands will accumulate too. Precisely because the surface is left unfinished and uncoated, it's shaped and developed by the hands of the person using it. It's a fascinating process.

As mentioned, brass resists corrosion and is easy to work with. Items that take advantage of these qualities range widely, from kitchen tools to tabletop accessories to stationery.

Take, for instance, this bottle opener. True to its name, "Bottle Opener Waku" (frame), it has a unique design formed entirely of an outline, or frame, with the part that catches the bottle cap solidly shaped as well. Tie a leather cord to the frame, and you can hang it on the wall for storage.

Taking Time, Little by Little

If you're bothered by hand grime or dark spots on brass and want to restore its original shine, you can polish it with a commercial metal polish or polishing cloth to bring back the brightness. That said, the way the surface dulls a little from being touched by hands has its own charm, and polishing compounds do wear away the surface slightly, so simply wiping it with a cloth now and then is perfectly fine for everyday care.

Occasionally, verdigris (rokushou) may appear during use. This is a form of rust that forms as the copper in the alloy oxidizes. Verdigris is harmless and non-toxic, but if the appearance bothers you, mix household vinegar with an equal amount of salt, soak a cloth in it, and rub it directly onto the affected areas to polish away the verdigris. Afterward, wash with dish soap, rinse, and be sure to wipe away any remaining moisture.

So if verdigris bothers you, you can simply remove it—but in the worlds of bronze statuary and Japanese art, its distinctive color is sometimes deliberately embraced and highlighted instead.

In fact, there is a traditional Japanese color called rokushou-iro ("verdigris color"). It originally referred to a pigment made by crushing malachite (kujakuishi), a naturally occurring mineral, but the rust that forms on copper and copper alloys like brass also became a source of pigment—and this rust color, too, came to be called rokushou-iro.

The verdigris that gradually appears through use doesn't have to be removed entirely—leaving it as it is might just be another form of character to enjoy.

From the Kitchen to the Study

Among tabletop accessories, chopstick rests and knife stands are especially useful.

Both have a pleasant heft unique to brass, giving them a solid, stable feel. Kitchen and dining accessories often come into contact with water, and brass's resistance to corrosion makes it well-suited for this kind of use.

It's a heavy material, but there are also pendant lamps made of brass. Compared to lampshades made of glass or washi (Japanese paper) that let light through, brass doesn't transmit light, which emphasizes the downward glow and creates a space full of mood and atmosphere.

And the simple forms also lend themselves well to stationery. Even brand new, these pieces have a settled quality reminiscent of antique goods, with a presence that makes you want to spend a long time developing a patina with them.

On the right side of the photo is the basic brass finish, while the one on the left is a distinctive type called "kuro-mura" (black mottling). Both have enough stability to sit on a desk, so they make a lovely fixed spot for pens, business cards, or a hanko (personal seal).

And surprisingly, these pieces pair well with women's accessories. They're just the right size to use as a tray for earrings, rings, and other items that get put on and taken off frequently.

There's a pleasant contrast between feminine accessories and the quiet presence of brass, making them an excellent match.

Using something for a long time means it takes time, so the object itself inevitably ages little by little.

What's curious, though, is that "aging" can lead either to "wear and tear" or to "character and charm."

Among those who enjoy keeping their favorite items close for a long time, many probably love old things and the changes that come with age.

Brass, of course, is a material that leads to "character and charm." From a single paperweight to hefty kitchen goods—even as the shapes change, the material's charm remains the same. That may well be the true appeal of brass.

*In addition to the fact that each FUTAGAMI item is handmade one at a time, they apparently avoid making large batches in advance in order to prevent unintended oxidation from exposure to air during the production process. Because of this, production takes time.

There may be times when it takes a while for new stock to arrive, so we appreciate your understanding.