Filagree is a method of decorative metalwork involving the twisting and bending and soldering of wires (usually silver or gold), in order to fashion jewelry or other decorative metal objects. The delicate metalwork is often suggestive of lace. Sometimes silver or gold beads might by incorporated into the work The oldest filagree pieces date to 3000 BC and were found in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Kuwait). The Etruscans and Greeks adopted the art form and the work spread—mostly through trade and Arab migration—and could be found from Ireland to North Africa to Asia (especially India).
In the Medieval periods, filagree was used for jewelry, naturally, but also liturgical decor: reliquaries, processional crosses, croziers, gospel book covers.
When Arab migrants came to the Iberian peninsula in the Eighth Century, it fueled a blossoming of filigree production there (though filigree works had been known in Spain since 2500 BC). These newcomers brought fresh design ideas from Muslim lands and, in Portugal especially, filagree reached its technical zenith in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.
The silver filagree brooch, shown above, was made in Victorian England. It has, however, a distinctly Middle Eastern inspiration. "Orientalism"—a fascination with the aesthetics of faraway lands in the East—was very much a la mode in Nineteenth Century England. Click on the photo above to learn more about this handsome pin.
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