Is the filament what is it? Russian scanning technology

Jewelry was always appreciated. And not so much because of the considerable cost of the materials used, but because of the skillful or filigree execution of jewelry masterpieces, because of the high technique of artistic product processing. One of the types of this technique is filigree.

Cloth or filigree?

In fact, these two words will mean the same thing. Only the first - originally Russian - means "twisting", "twisting". The second - European origin, more precisely Latin, in its basis lie the words "thread" and "grain".

So the filigree is a certain way of making patterned products made of fine wire, which is pulled out of precious metals (silver, platinum, gold). As a result, it turns out, simply, wire lace.

To decorate such products often used so-called grains - small balls. They are also made of precious metals - silver, gold.

Origin of the scan

Surprisingly, but it originated in ancient times, continues to be used in modern times in almost the same form. It is wrong to think that the filigree appeared for the first time in Ancient Rus. This is not true. Monuments of the 6th-4th centuries BC. E., belonging to Greece, Egypt, prove a high level of ownership of this type of jewelry technology. However, the method of drawing for obtaining wire in ancient times was not known. It was made from a metal rod by forging and polishing. In Russia, the filigree filigree became widespread in the 10th century. Approximately at the same time, they began to use granules in scanned products. And it was only in the 15th and 16th centuries that very different materials were used: enamel, precious stones, wood.

Russian craft

The fabric in Ancient Russia is a kind of visiting card of original Russian jewelry art. This technique was widely used for making not only ornaments, but also church utensils, salaries of sacred books and icons, weapons, household items. For example, even the morocco boots were decorated with a groove.

In the 17th century special workshops were opened in Russia, in which they were engaged in making wire (drawing work). And with monasteries, princely estates opened workshops, in which the real talents of filigree work. The most famous masters of those times are chronicles called Ivan Fomin and Ambrose.

Fibers are very expensive products that were only available to rich people. After all, it was a manual fine work, requiring the master to accumulate years of experience, which was the secret of skill.

Periods of heyday and decline

In the 18-19th centuries, filigree in Russia is in its heyday. The range of products made in this jewelry technique is constantly expanding. Workshops appear in many cities, and soon factory production of scanned products is being set up.

The beginning of the 20th century, for obvious reasons, was a period of decline - war, revolution ... Of course, it was not up to jewelry art.

However, in Soviet Russia it is again reborn. And to such an extent that it is gaining world fame. In 1937, at the exhibition in Paris, artisans from the artel "Krasnoselsky handicraft" received a gold medal, they were shown at the exhibition in New York (1939).

The products of masters from the village of Kazachkovo (Nizhny Novgorod region), Mstera settlement (Vladimir region), the city of Privolzhsk (Ivanovo region) were also appreciated.

Over time, there were large factory production of jewelry from scans in Moscow, Leningrad and other cities.

Types of jewelry scans

Depending on the way the products are made, the fabric can be of three kinds. In napaynoy scans on a metal base soldered a pattern of wire.

In the openwork scans the base is missing, the wire patterns are fastened together, and metal laces are obtained. It is the delicate filigree abroad often called the Russian filigree.

The third kind is a voluminous filigree. As a rule, these are products consisting of several parts. So these parts are also performed by the scanning technique separately, and then they are combined into a single whole. It can be, for example, the figures of animals, a tray, a vase, a glass holder. The fabric gives these products refinement and uniqueness.

Materials for scanning

For a long time it was believed that silver and gold are best for scanning. These noble soft and unalloyed metals are easily drawn into the wire. For example, a thread that can be made from 1 gram of gold will be about 2,500 meters long.

However, the scanned items produced from precious metals are very expensive, so other materials have been used to reduce their cost.

First of all, copper, because it has a high plasticity and softness. In addition, the copper thread is easy to silver or gild.

Also used are aluminum, nickel silver, brass and some other metals. The main thing is to have the opportunity to pull out of them a thin wire. After all, the filigree is a product consisting of wire patterns.

The technique of scanning requires skill

Indeed, every master scanner has his secrets of skill. Even now, when the factory production of such products has appeared, the share of manual labor remains large. And from the master, from the skilful artist depends, how much qualitative and charming will be the thing, executed by the technique of scanning.

The thickness of the wire for various elements of the product, the amount and composition of fast ice, the duration of wire roasting ... There are so many secrets from every master. However, the main stages of work remain unchanged. In the production of wire threads themselves, it is not worth stopping. Fibers - it is still directly the execution of the product, or even the creation of a work of art.

Sorting the wire through the thickness, the master twists it or leaves it smooth - it all depends on the product over which it starts working. By the way, before it starts, he must make a sketch of life-size products. Work is carried out on each part separately. They arched strictly on the sketch. For small ones, special tools such as tweezers are used, and with large ones you can handle your fingers. When performing openwork patterns, the parts are first glued to the sketch, and then welded together. Paper, which is sketched, burns when soldering, as a result, only the product remains.

The snap fillet is immediately attached to the metal base.

The final procedure is the silvering of the thing and its polishing.

Giving originality

To make the product from the scanner originality, apply special techniques.

The first is the use of grains, small balls. They are soldered already on the finished product in specially prepared cavities. And immediately they give things elegance and refinement.

Even more interesting is to make a filigree mobile. What it is? The graphic pattern applied to the product is sprinkled with a fusion of tin, copper, lead, sulfur, and silver. Then the roasting is carried out, the black melts, and the pattern is filled with this composition.

It is impossible not to recall such a technique as enameling. Here, the vitreous mass to which the article is coated is used. Enamel can be very different. The most interesting, perhaps, painted, the so-called enamel. The fabric is painted with multicolored paints, which are fixed by roasting.

In conclusion, those who want to buy real filigree products, you can advise more often to visit special jewelry exhibitions. There and the range is decent, and you can find real works of art from the scans.