The lace like twisted wire work called filigree jewelry goes back thousands of years. The jewelry technique was first attempted by the Ancient Egyptians when they used metal braids in their designs.

By the time of the Phoenicians (eg in Cyprus and Sardinia), Greeks and Etruscans from the 6th to the 3rd century BC, filigree work became a delicate art form. From there the craft spread to as far away as India. By the Middle Ages, filigree jewelry work could be found all over Europe.

So it's no surprise to learn that today's feature designer, Etsian Bongera Filigrana is from Genoa, Italy.  As she said herself, filigree work fits perfectly with the ornate Baroque style encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church. Her work is truly exquisite. She scrolls and forms many pieces of twisted and plain wire which are joined not by wire wrapping techniques but by soldering. That's the only way to get such delicate work.

She has amazing designs including this gorgeous cross!


Flowers are another inspirational theme for her work.









Even smaller are her rings like this one! What amazing detail!



She has some pictures of her workshop on her Flickr site if you are interested. I am including two video links (Part 1 and Part 2) by Mona77401 which shows us how the silver soldering is done for filigree work.





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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
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