Thursday, February 11, 2010

Filigree Sterling Silver Jewelry Through History Part I - 3000 B.c. To 400 A.d.

Author: David-John Turner

Source: articledashboard.com



Definition

n. Filigree /filligree/:From the Latin 'Filum', acceptation 'Thread', and 'Granum' acceptation 'Seed'. Filigree is the art of curling, agee and plaiting accomplished bendable accoutrement of adored metals, and chain them at their credibility of acquaintance by agency of gold or Silver solder.

Introduction

Perfected over millennia, accumulation the age-old techniques and styles of vanished civilizations, Filigree is after a agnosticism one of the oldest and a lot of admirable art forms accepted to man.

Unlike the accumulation of adornment produced today Filigree adornment is absolutely handcrafted, calling for hours of absorption on the allotment of its maker. The ability abaft Filigree's accurate creation, anesthetized down from bearing to generation, charcoal a carefully attentive abstruse kept in the easily of lapidary masters addition from the islands of the Mediterranean sea to the shores of East India.

The Egyptians And Filigree

Filigree's intricate lace-like trellises are entwined in mystery., fashions, fashions in the 1920s , in the 1920s , For eons it was believed that Filigree had its roots buried in the classical Greek aeon 400 years afore the bearing of Christ. However, in the 1920s archeologists aerial the lid on two of the a lot of, fashions in the 1920s , cogent finds this century, absolute that Filigree was in actuality added than 5000 years old.

The aboriginal analysis was of a Filigree knife sheath dating from 2600 B.C., begin in the aristocratic tomb of the Mesopotamian Queen Pu-Abi. The additional was the analysis of several gold and Silver rings with alluringly formed Filigree shanks dating from 1350 B.C., begin in the allegorical tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Tut-ankh-amun.

The Phoenicians And Filigree

Later discoveries, agnate to the Egyptian and Mesopotamian Filigree but dating from, fashions in the 1920s , 1000 B.C. were begin in Phoenicia, present day Lebanon. Archeologists assured that the abyssal Phoenicians had been afflicted by the two cultures through boundless barter in gold and Silver.

The Phoenicians advance their abilities, fashions in the 1920s , throughout the Mediterranean; abounding clearing in southern Italy amalgam with the Etruscans, a acculturation of the 7th aeon B.C. committed to the arts. The Etruscan artists alloyed acceptable geometric designs with the Phoenician's oriental influences of floral and allegorical designs, adorning Filigree to such an amazing amount that to this day their designs abide incomparable even by avant-garde jewelers.

The Greeks And Filigree

In the eastern Mediterranean, fashions in the 1920s , the Greeks had been using Filigree techniques back the time of the Trojan wars and were quick to accommodate the aesthetic Etruscan appearance into their jewelry. Necklaces were busy with Filigree flowers and tassels, bandage earrings with Filigree disks and rosettes. With the conquests of Alexander, fashions in the 1920s , the Great Greece accomplished a abundance of gold and Silver anatomy plundered, fashions in the 1920s , from the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Persians and Indians. And from 323 B.C., during the Hellenistic period, Greek Filigree became abounding from southern Europe to India influencing craftsmen throughout the massive empire.

The Romans And Filigree

By 133 B.C. Rome had captivated the absoluteness of the Greek Authority and its bread-and-butter wealth. And with the acceleration of the Roman Authority a new appearance of adornment architecture was ushered in with the use of black gemstones. Roman craftsmen activated gold and Silver as settings for emeralds, sapphires, rubies, peridots, garnets and pearls. However, Roman jewelers, in adjustment to accent the gems rather than their settings adopted plainer geometric shapes, fashions in the 1920s , to the abundant styles of classical Greek jewelry, and techniques like Filigree,, fashions in the 1920s , fashions in the 1920s , and granulation fell out of fashion.

The Byzantines And Filigree

By the 4th Aeon A.D. the Roman Authority in Europe had collapsed into the easily of the barbaric tribes of the Goths and Vandals, the 'Dark Ages' ensued and Rome's art forms were lost. However, the East of the Roman Authority accepted as the Byzantine Authority became a athenaeum of classical learning, attention the aesthetic ancestry of the Greek and Roman artisans. The Byzantine Authority was Christian, and rich, this is reflected in the abundant gold and Silver icons, book covers of gospels and panels of reliquaries crafted in the monasteries. The ample surfaces of these altar were encrusted with adored stones cut into cabochons and busy with accomplished Filigree, granulation, engravings, and enameling techniques accepted as cloisonn้.

Filigree Sterling Silver Adornment Through History Allotment II - 1000 A.D. To 1900 A.D.

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