Portuguese Filigrana

The Art of Filigree over time

The origin of filigree dates back to the third millennium BC, in Mesopotamia. The oldest pieces date back to 2500 BC and were discovered in the graves of Ur, in present-day Iraq. Other pieces, discovered in Syria, date from approximately 2100 BC.

It arrived in Europe via trade routes in the Mediterranean Sea, where it became relatively popular in the Greek and Roman civilizations. The oldest discoveries of filigree jewelery were made in present-day Italy and are estimated to date from the 16th century. XVIII BC It was also during the Roman Empire that the word “filigree” originated: the oldest discoveries were made in present-day Italy, and date back to the century. XVIII BC

However, since the Middle East was a crossroads of cultures, the filigree continued its journey and crossed borders into India and China. In the Far East, it was mainly used as a decorative element and not as jewelry. We find, for example, sculptures covered in filigree, teapots, plates or boxes.

Of course, the filigree of this remote time was not the same as we know it today: the patterns were different, as was the usage. But the similarity of the techniques used leaves no room for doubt - we were able to identify these centuries-old pieces as examples of filigree.

So what distinguishes filigree? Simple, the way different fine strands draw patterns and are soldered together to create a much larger piece. No other jewelery art uses a similar fusion technique to join gold strands. Today - as thousands of years ago - the different threads that make up each piece unite only by heat, without resorting to any other material or alloy.

We can also say that there is no other technique of jewelery in which so few metals are used to create such large and extraordinary shapes. In some filigree hearts, for example, half the “surface” of the piece might be air!

Filigree in the Iberian Peninsula

The oldest pieces in filigree discovered in the Iberian Peninsula date back to 2000 - 2500 BC, but their origin is unclear. Possibly, these pieces belonged to merchants or navigators from the Middle East and were not manufactured here.

Only during the rule of the Romans, during the century. II BC, mining exploration began to exist in the Peninsula - out of curiosity, it was during this period that the mines of the Pia and Banja mountains, in Gondomar, began to be explored.

But only thousands of years later, in the century. VIII AD, we were able to ensure with certainty that the filigree was being developed and produced in Portugal. It was with the arrival of Arab peoples that new patterns emerged and, little by little, the filigree in the Peninsula began to differentiate itself from the filigree in other parts of the world.

While in neighboring Spain the tradition of filigree was lost, in Portugal it was improving. From the century. XVII, the Portuguese filigree already had its own imaginary and molds very different from any other filigree.