Sitting outside his small shop in a warren of alleyways in the ancient city of Rawalpindi, Ahsan Shakeel buffed an antique brass pot to a high shine, pressing it against a mechanised wheel.<\/p>\n
“We’ve removed all the dents, but it still needs polishing,” the 72-year-old restorer, among the last still practising his craft, told AFP<\/i> as the spinning buffer sent fine metal dust into the air.<\/p>\n
Quitting a job as a hotel cook, Shakeel followed in his father’s footsteps to become an antiques restorer, opening his workshop in the Bhabra Bazaar market in densely populated Rawalpindi in 1980.<\/p>\n
Today, he is one of the last master restorers preserving antique metalware in Pakistan.<\/p>\n
![\"Antique](\"https:\/\/www.geo.tv\/assets\/uploads\/updates\/2026-10-27\/688478_9897803_updates.jpg\")
Rawalpindi’s 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
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
![\"Antique](\"https:\/\/www.geo.tv\/assets\/uploads\/updates\/2026-10-27\/688478_5414810_updates.jpg\")
He took down various items and enthusiastically explained to AFP <\/i>their materials and origins.<\/p>\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The vintage items are now increasingly rare in the modern era, in which they have been replaced by stainless steel and plastic kitchenware.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
“I used to travel everywhere, Lahore, Gujranwala, Karachi, back and forth (to purchase antiques),” he said.<\/p>\n
‘Life back into the dead’<\/h2>\n
Shakeel procures the items he restores mostly from scrap yards, ports, or household clearances.<\/p>\n
“Often, the condition of the items is so bad that no one would buy them,” he said.<\/p>\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
After restoration, a piece can sell between $100 and $1,000. Shakeel’s customers are mostly collectors or antique enthusiasts, including foreigners.<\/p>\n
![\"Antique](\"https:\/\/www.geo.tv\/assets\/uploads\/updates\/2026-10-27\/688478_6225417_updates.jpg\")
Today, he mostly relies on online platforms and messaging applications to buy and sell antiques.<\/p>\n
![\"Antique](\"https:\/\/www.geo.tv\/assets\/uploads\/updates\/2026-10-27\/688478_8497482_updates.jpg\")
“I don’t have the same health anymore, so I travel less,” he said.<\/p>\n
Prices for antiques are on the increase, but the number of customers has fallen over time, Shakeel said.<\/p>\n
“The money doesn’t turn over quickly in this business. It’s a very slow trade,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Customers who still exist, they are not many. They collect these things because they understand these items. Those who don’t understand them would think it’s all useless,” Shakeel added.<\/p>\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
![\"Antique](\"https:\/\/www.geo.tv\/assets\/uploads\/updates\/2026-10-27\/688478_582521_updates.jpg\")
“This is a very old thing,” 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
“What we do is like putting life back into the dead,” Ahmed said.<\/p>\n
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Header image:\u00a0Antique dealer Ahsan Shakeel shows an artefact at his shop selling vintage items in Rawalpindi on October 20, 2026.\u2014 AFP<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n