For a long time I have been fascinated by the enormous variety and the overwhelming and well thought-out optical effect of filigree jewelery on medieval goldsmith objects. In addition to ecclesiastical book covers and reliquaries the gaps between the gemstone or pearl settings were also elaborately included on processional crosses, shrines and various other pieces of jewellery Filigree decorated.
The whole spectrum between rather listless and technically quick and not very demanding filigree to the noblest creations of these tiny goldsmith ornamental worlds can sometimes be found on one and the same object, such as surprisingly even on the Epiphany Shrine in Cologne – probably the most important goldsmith's object in the West. Not only the most elaborate and diverse filigree variations are shown there, but also in a few places really creepy filigree fittings that fall completely short of the other quality level of the shrine - presumably all of them are products of later unprofessional and irresponsible restorations. The otherwise consistently excellent filigree jewelry on the shrine of the Three Kings is characterized, for example, by a particularly lively use of different pearl wires, the finest wire pistons, beehives and spherical rosettes on the countless filigree fittings of the shrine.
Another excellent example of the finest filigree jewelry is this lothar cross in the cathedral treasury in Aachen. There were about filigree ornaments mounted on an additional level using a tiny clamp on the underlying filigree element in such a way that the three-dimensional impression of a branch branching out is created.
Also on that Abbess Cross in Aachen-Burtscheid there is an example of filigree jewelry that breaks the boundaries of the two-dimensional underground and rises in several levels.
Perhaps the finest filigree (at least known to me) can be found, for example, on the famous storage room in the Limburg Cathedral Treasury. The extremely miniature and technically perfect presentation of the filigree jewelery there is really breathtaking.
Another enchantingly beautiful example of the use of filigree decoration, for example on book covers, is the Gospels ”Codex CLM 4451” from the Bavarian State Library in Munich. The one there Densification of the filigree ornaments results in an almost unsurpassable abundance of goldsmith decorative elements in a very small space.
From now on we will present excerpts of various variants of these finest filigree creations on various unique pieces of jewelry. The beginning was already there Pendant with filigree from the shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne. This is followed by another pendant - also based on a filigree variant from the shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne Cathedral:
So it remains very exciting: Visit our homepage from time to time and discover the wonderful and fascinating world of medieval filigree....