Many grand civilisations inhabited the Near East, their wealth and prosperity is witnessed by the very sophisticated precious metal crafting of jewellery. Gold would have been hammered down into a thin layer and manipulated into different shape. Filigree consisted of designs created from twisted wire and small beads soldered together forming different motifs and patterns. Gold and silver jewellery were also enriched with gold granules, glass, and semi-precious stone inlays with detailed engravings. Very fine granulation along with filigree, were at the centre of Near Eastern and Western Asiatic jewellery production and were later adopted by the Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans.
To find out more about different metal decorative techniques please see our relevant blog post: Decorative Metalwork Techniques
