RAWALPINDI: Sitting outside his small shop in a warren of alleyways in the ancient Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, Ahsan Shakeel buffed an antique brass pot to a high shine, pressing it against a mechanised wheel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve removed all the dents, but it still needs polishing,\u201d the 72-year-old restorer, among the last still practising his craft, told AFP<\/em> as the spinning buffer sent fine metal dust into the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quitting a job as a hotel cook, Shakeel followed in his father\u2019s footsteps to become an antiques restorer, opening his workshop in the Bhabra Bazaar market in densely populated Rawalpindi in 1980.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, he is one of the last master restorers preserving antique metalware in Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rawalpindi\u2019s roots stretch back to prehistoric human settlements and over centuries the garrison city evolved into a major commercial hub where metalcraft from the Mughal and British colonial periods converged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moving inside his shop, Shakeel navigated wall-to-wall shelves stacked with centuries-old ewer jugs, samovars for boiling, dishes, jars and teapots, most of which were made of copper or brass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He took down various items and enthusiastically explained to AFP<\/em> their materials and origins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The vintage items are now increasingly rare in the modern era in which they have been replaced by stainless steel and plastic kitchenware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI used to travel everywhere, Lahore, Gujranwala, Karachi, back and forth (to purchase antiques),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shakeel procures the items he restores mostly from scrap yards, ports, or household clearances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOften, the condition of the items is so bad that no one would buy them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shop owner and his colleague Shakeel Ahmed restore the battered items by hammering out dents, re-tinning the interiors over coal fires, and polishing the metal. A badly damaged item could take a few days to fix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After restoration, a piece can sell between $100 and $1,000. Shakeel\u2019s customers are mostly collectors or antique enthusiasts, including foreigners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, he mostly relies on online platforms and messaging applications to buy and sell antiques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t have the same health anymore, so I travel less,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prices for antiques are on the increase but the number of customers has fallen over time, Shakeel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe money doesn\u2019t turn over quickly in this business. It\u2019s a very slow trade,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCustomers who still exist, they are not many. They collect these things because they understand these items. Those who don\u2019t understand them would think it\u2019s all useless,\u201d Shakeel added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ahmed said he enjoyed restoring worn and damaged objects because they carry stories within them from different communities in the past or historical periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is a very old thing,\u201d the 56-year-old man said at his own dimly lit workshop, as he gently used a small hammer to smooth out little dents on a large brass hookah pipe for smoking tobacco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PAK SOUCH MEDIA GROUP<\/p>\n\n\n\n Daily Pak Souch Newspaper Sukkur \u2013 Daily Pak Special Newspaper Karachi \u2013 Daily Pak Today Newspaper Karachi – Daily Pak Jazbo Newspaper Sukkur<\/p>\n\n\n\n Head Office : Ayub Gate Shaikh Muhalla Near Rabbania Masjid Sukkur<\/p>\n\n\n\n Karachi Office : Office No. 1901-B, 19th Floor Saima Trade Tower (B) Block I.I Chandigarh Road Near Jung Press, Shaheen Complex & National Museum of Pakistan Karachi Sindh Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contact : 03009319022<\/p>\n\n\n\n Website 1 : https:\/\/paksouch.com\/<\/a> RAWALPINDI: Sitting outside his small shop in a warren of alleyways in the ancient Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, Ahsan Shakeel buffed an antique brass pot..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Pak-Souch-Social-Media-Poster-2026-10-27T041601.572.png",800,947,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Pak-Souch-Social-Media-Poster-2026-10-27T041601.572-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Pak-Souch-Social-Media-Poster-2026-10-27T041601.572-253x300.png",253,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Pak-Souch-Social-Media-Poster-2026-10-27T041601.572-768x909.png",768,909,true],"large":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Pak-Souch-Social-Media-Poster-2026-10-27T041601.572.png",800,947,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Pak-Souch-Social-Media-Poster-2026-10-27T041601.572.png",800,947,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Pak-Souch-Social-Media-Poster-2026-10-27T041601.572.png",800,947,false]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Pakistan<\/a>","tag_info":"Pakistan","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18460"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18462,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18460\/revisions\/18462"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u2018Life back into the dead\u2019<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Website 2 : https:\/\/sindhi.paksouch.com\/<\/a>
Website 3 : https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/<\/a>
Website 4 : https:\/\/urdu.pakjazbo.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"