Antique jewelry glossary

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Filigree enamel

A type of decoration in the manner of cloisonné enamelling but having the cloisons made of twisted wire (rather than flat strips of metal) soldered to the base, and filled in with opaque enamel. After the powdered enamel in the spaces is fused and, upon cooling, has contracted, the wire shows above the surface.

The style originated in Greece in the 5th century BC. Later, it flourished in or near Venice in the second half of the 14th century and spread throughout Europe, but mainly to Spain in some Hispano-Moresque work and to Hungary in the 15th/16th centuries.

From: An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry, autor: Harold Newman, publishers: Thames and Hudson