Though I don’t work much in filigree myself, I have none the less
done one or two very difficult and very beautiful pieces of work
in this line, and so I’ll say something about it. The art is a
charming one, and when well executed & well understood is as
pleasing to the eye of man as anything done in goldsmithing. Those
who did the best work in filigree were the men who had a good grip
of drawing, especially designing from foliage & pierced spray work,
for everything that you set to work upon requires first of all that
you think it out as a design. And though many have practised the art
without making drawings first because the material in which they
worked was so easily handled and so pliable; still, those who made
their drawings first did the best work. Now give ear to the way the
art is pursued.
Innumerable are the purposes to which you may apply filigree. So
first of all we will begin with some of the ordinary every-day things
& then have a look at such other things as will make a man’s mouth
water. The more ordinary use to which filigree is applied, is for
buckles and pins for belts, such as I told of in the introductory
chapter of my book. Then is it used, too, for making crosses &
earrings, small caskets, buttons, certain kinds of little charms
and divers manner of necklaces; these latter are often worn with
fillings of musk, as is also frequently the case with bracelets; &
so an endless other variety of things. Now it is necessary that for
everything that you want to execute in this line of work, you must
to begin with make a gold or silver plate exactly in the way you
want your work ultimately to be. After this is done, and of course,
after you have made your drawing, have ready all the different kinds
of wire of which you will have need, such for instance as thick and
thin & middling, the usual three sizes, in due sequence, and perhaps
a fourth size likewise. Then have ready some ‘_granaglia_’—granulated
metal—for so the stuff is called; and in order to make this, you take
your gold or silver, melt it, and when it is well melted, pour it
into a pot of powdered charcoal. In this way every kind of granulated
metal is made.[18] Then, too, you must have your solder prepared and
ready to hand, and the right solder to use is the ‘_terzo_’ solder,
so called because you make it with two ounces of silver and one of
copper. Now though many are accustomed to make solder with brass,
be advised that it is much better to make it with copper, and less
risky. Take heed that you file your solder very fine, then put to
every three parts of solder one of well ground borax, and, having
well mixed them, put them in a borax crucible[19] such as a goldsmith
uses. Then have handy some gum tragacanth,[20] a sort of gum which
you can buy at any apothecary’s. Dissolve this gum tragacanth in a
little cup or vase, or whatever is convenient. When you have all
these things in order, you will also need by you two pairs of stout
little pliers, and also a small sharp chisel cut angularly,[21]
like the wood-engravers use; but its handle ought to be short, the
length & size of the handle of a graver. For its object is to cut
the wires in accordance as you may wish to twist them either one way
or the other, as your design requires, or your taste determines.
You will also need a copper plate fairly stout, very smooth, and
about the size of the palm of your hand. When you have twisted your
wire into the shapes you want, you must place it bit by bit on the
copper plate, and so bit by bit with a camel’s-hair brush streak
it over with the solution of gum tragacanth, arranging at the same
time the little gold & silver beads tastily. During the time that
you are piecing together your bits of leaves and other particles,
the tragacanth water will hold them together sufficiently to prevent
their moving. Then every time that you have composed a part of your
spray-work, and before the tragacanth water has got dry, throw a
little soldering powder out of your borax upon it, and put just as
much as may suffice to solder your spray work, & not more. The object
of putting just enough on, is that the work when soldered shall be
graceful and slender, for too much solder makes it look fat.
Hereupon, when it is time for soldering, you will need in readiness
a little stove, such as is used for enamelling, but since there is
a great difference between the melting of enamel & the soldering of
filigree, you will need to heat this furnace with a much smaller
fire. Then attach your work to a little iron plate, but so that the
work stands free above it, and put it little by little to the heat of
the furnace, until the borax shall have fumed away, & done as is its
wont. Now too much heat would move the wires you have woven out of
place, so it is essential to take the greatest possible care,—really
it’s quite impossible to tell it properly in writing: I could explain
it all right enough by word of mouth, or better still show you how
it’s done—still, come along—we’ll try and go on as we started!
When you are ready to begin soldering, and want to make your solder
flow, put your work in the furnace, & place beneath it a few little
pieces of well-dried wood, fanning them up a bit with your bellows.
Then it is not a bad thing, too, after this to throw a few coarse
cinders upon the fire, & this done at the right moment does a deal
of good. But it is practice and experience, together with a man’s
own discretion, that are the only real ways of teaching one how to
bring about good results in this or in anything. When your work is
soldered, that is to say if it be silver-work, you must to begin
with, cook it in tartar[22] mixed with some salt or other, and cook
it so long till all the borax is off it. This ought to last about
a quarter of an hour, by which time it will be quite clean, & free
from borax. If on the other hand it be made of gold, you must put it
in strong vinegar for about 24 hours, until you see a little salt
forming upon it. And so, after this manner can you fashion all sorts
of rosettes that may be needed in your work, such as I have not only
seen, but myself made, and that give much variety to the work, when
you have ordered them each in their place, and in accordance with
your design.
But now I’ll tell you yet something further about the cunning of this
charming art; I’ll tell you of a wonderful and priceless work that
was shown me in France, in Paris, their most beautiful & richest
city—which the French, according to their language, call ‘Paris
simpari,’ that is to say ‘sans peer,’ or without equal. It was in
the service of King Francis in the year 1541. This most royal and
splendid of Kings retained me in Paris, and gave me of his liberality
a castle, standing in the city itself, and called by the name of
the ‘little Nello.’ Here I worked for four years, the which will be
recounted all in its place when I come to tell of the great works
which I made for this most worthy King. Here I will continue my
talk as to the way of working in filigree, and as I promised, tell
of a work most rare—a work such as may perchance never again be
executed—which I saw in this city. One day—a solemn fête day—the King
went at Vespers to his ‘Sainte Chapelle’ in Paris. He sent word to
me that I was to be at Vespers too, as he had something nice to show
me. When Vespers were over the King called me to him through the
Constable, who sometimes represents the King himself. This gentleman
came, took me by the hand, & led me before the King, who with great
kindness and affability began to show me the most beautiful trinkets
and jewels, and briefly asked me my opinion on them. After these he
showed me a variety of ancient camei about as big as the palm of a
large hand, and asked me many things about them, on which I gave him
my opinion. They had stood me in the middle of all of them;—there
was the King, and the King of Navarre his brother-in-law, and the
Queen of Navarre, and all the first flower of the nobility, & of
those that came nearest to the crown; & before all of them his
Majesty showed me many beautiful & priceless things, about which we
talked for a long time to his great delight. Thereupon he showed
me a drinking bowl without a foot & of a middling size, wrought
in filigree with the choicest spray-work, upon which much other
ornamental detail was admirably applied. Now list to my description
of it! In among the spray-work and interstices of filigree were
settings of the most beautiful enamel of various colours; and when
you held it to the light these enamel fillings almost looked as if
they were transparent—indeed it seemed impossible that such a piece
of work should ever have been made. Thus at least thought the King, &
asked me very pleasantly, since I had thus highly praised the bowl,
could I possibly imagine how the work was done. I thereupon answered
his question thus: ‘Sacred Majesty,’ quoth I, ‘I can tell you exactly
how it is done, even so much so that you, being the man of rare
ability that you are, shall know how just as well as the master
himself that made it, knew, but the explanation of the methods that
underlie its making will take rather a long time.’ At these words
of mine all the noble assembly that waited on his Majesty thronged
around me, the King declared he had never seen work of so wondrous a
kind, and since it was so easy of explanation, bade me tell as I had
promised. Then spake I: ‘If you want to make a bowl like this, you
must begin by making one of thin sheet iron, about the thickness of
a knife back larger than the one you want ultimately to produce in
filigree. Then with a brush you paint it inside with a solution of
fine clay, cloth shearings & Tripoli clay[23] finely ground; then you
take finely drawn gold wire of such a thickness as your wise-minded
master may wish that of his bowl to be. This thread should be so
thick that if you beat it out flat with a hammer on your clean little
cup, it bends more readily in the width than otherwise, in such a way
that it may then be flattened out to a ribbon shape, two knife-blades
broad, & as thin as a sheet of paper. You must be careful to stretch
your thread out very evenly, & have it tempered soft, because it
will then be easier to twist with your pliers. Then with your fine
design before you, you commence to compose your stretched thread
inside the iron bowl, first the principal members, according to their
way of arrangement, piece by piece painting them over with solution
of gum tragacanth, so that they adhere to the clay-solution with
which you pasted the inside. Then when your craftsman has set all
his principal members and larger outlines, he must put in the spray
work, each piece in its place, just as the design guides him, setting
it spray by spray, bit by bit in the way I have told you. And then
when all this is in proper order, he must have ready his enamels of
all colours, well ground and well washed. It is true you might do
the soldering first before you put in the enamel, & you would do it
in the way that I explained above when I considered the soldering of
filigree work, but it’s as good one way as the other, soldered or not
soldered. And when all the preliminary work is carefully done, and
all the interstices nicely filled with the coloured enamels, you put
the whole thing in the furnace, in order to make the enamel flow. To
begin with you must only subject it to a slight heat, after which,
when you have filled up any little openings with a second coat of
enamel you may put it in again under a rather bigger fire, & if it
appear after this that there are still crannies to be filled up, you
put it to as strong a fire as the craft allows and as your enamels
will bear. When all this is done you remove it from the iron bowl,
which will be easy by reason of the paste of clay to which the actual
work and the enamels are attached. Then with a particular kind of
stones called “_frasinelle_,” and with fresh water you begin the
process of smoothing it down, and you must go on with this so long
till the enamel is polished down to an equal thickness throughout
and as may seem good to you. And when you have got as far as the
“_frasinelle_” can take you, you may continue your polishing with
still finer stones, and lastly with a piece of reed and tripoli
clay (as I explained it in niello work), then the surface of your
enamel will be very smooth and beautiful.’ When the admirable King
Francis heard all this description of mine, he declared that they
who knew so well how to explain, doubtless knew still better how to
perform, & that I had so well pointed out to him the whole process
of a work that he had erst thought impossible, that now, owing to my
description, he really thought he could do it himself. And therewith
he heaped great favours upon me, such as you can’t possibly imagine.
FOOTNOTES:
[18] _Fine granules of gold are made by cutting gold wire into short
lengths, mixing the cut pieces with charcoal, placing the mixture in
a crucible and then heating the whole up to the melting point of the
metal. Afterwards the charcoal is washed away, and the gold granules
(which have been fused into a round form) sorted according to size by
sifting._
[19] _Borraciere_: _perhaps a borax pan_.
[20] _Dragante._
[21] _Uno scarpelletto augnato._
[22] ‘_Gomma di botte_,’ i.e., _tartrate of potash_.
[23] _Tripolo._