FILIGREE

delicate, lacelike ornamental openwork composed of intertwined wire threads of gold or silver, widely used since antiquity for jewelry. The art consists of curling, twisting, or plaiting fine, pliable metal threads and soldering them at their points of contact with each other and, if there is one, with the metal groundwork. The ancient Greeks used filigree with great elegance; a necklace of pendant flowers and tassels in a trellis of finely plaited ropes is an example of the delicacy filigree work can attain. The use of filigree was widespread during Roman times, extending throughout the empire. Asian filigree work is especially fine. In East Asia, gold and silver filigree generally are surrounded and subdivided by bands of metal.