Pakistan's last antique restorers give old treasures new life

Sitting outside his small shop in a warren of alleyways in Rawalpindi, Ahsan Shakeel buffed an antique brass pot to a high shine, pressing it against a mechanised wheel. “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 as the spinning buffer sent fine metal dust into the air. 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. Antique dealer Ahsan Shakeel…