They removed an awful lot of metal to reveal so little scroll work.
It may have been done by acid etching the layout first. That removes the bulk of the metal w/o so much hammer & chisel work.
As only the flat sides of the frame are done, that also makes me think acid etching was used.
It's easy to do on the flat surfaces,,not so easy to do this deeply especially,,on the curved surfaces.
The process can be done right on the factory case color hardened surface. It will bite and cut unevenly at first as it gets through the thin hard skin of the case. But from there, the soft metal core offers little resistance. In fact it etches rather uniformly. A 'stop varnish' is used in areas where you don't want etching to occur like the scroll. Soft clay was used often to build a dam around an area to contain the acid.
When the etching is complete, sharpening up the edges of the scroll w/ conventional
gravers is done. The edges start to get undercut in the acid etch process. They get a bit ragged the deeper you try and remove the background.
Some LC Smiths look like they used acid etch to some extent on their game scenes to remove or evenly matte the background.
It looks like the background was taken down deep straight accross the panel except for the scroll patches. Then simple foliage and rock formation lines added with etching too.
Some stippling in the scroll background,,a few graver cuts to add definition to the scroll and scene.
Placing the inlays in relief is the final step.
If originally done through the factory CCH finish and left as is,,the etching is a dull gray, sometimes almost charcoal gray color. It's easy to darken any graver cut lines to match.
It would blend nicely with an already worn CCH finish. Perhaps needing a little help in the way of ageing. If done on a nice CCH finish it would take on the age all by itself as the original finish around it faded and wore with use.
Just my thoughts and speculation of course..
