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| Fig. 35 Gold bracelet decorated with pierced design (opus interassile) and precious stones (Paris, Cabinet des Medailles). | Fig. 36 Gold ringwith chalecedonies (Paris, Musee de Louvre). |
Greek Jewellery
Jewellery-making Techniques
from Antiquity to Recent Times
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| Fig. 35 Gold bracelet decorated with pierced design (opus interassile) and precious stones (Paris, Cabinet des Medailles). | Fig. 36 Gold ringwith chalecedonies (Paris, Musee de Louvre). |
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The design is first engraved on the surface of the object and the spaces are then filled with a pulverized mixture of sulphur compounds of silver, copper and lead. Since this mixture has a lower melting point than the ground metal, it melts on heating and fills the motifs, thus creating a lustrous black decoration on the surface of the objects (figs 37,38). |
| Fig. 37 Gold ring, the figures executed in niello (Paris, Musee de Louvre). |
| Pierced and cut-out decoration (opus interrasile), that appears in many pieces of Byzantine jewellery, also has eastern roots. It is usually applied on cast plaques: the decoration was first drawn on the metal and then selected parts were removed with different drills and saws, creating perforated designs reminiscent of lacework. |  |
| Fig. 38 Gold signet ring with design executed in niello (Washington, Dumbarton Oaks Collection). |