Jewelry has always been 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 processing of the product. One of the types of this technique is scan.
A cloth or filigree?
In fact, these two words mean the same thing. Only the first - primordially Russian - means "twist", "twist the threads." The second is of European origin, or rather Latin, it is based on the words “thread” and “grain”.
So scan is a certain way of making patterned products from thin wire, which is stretched from precious metals (silver, platinum, gold). As a result, we get, quite simply, wire lace.
To decorate such products often use the so-called grain - small balls. They are also made of precious metals - silver, gold.
Origin of scan
Surprisingly, but it, having originated in ancient times, continues to be used in modern times in almost the same form. It is wrong to think that the scan (filigree) appeared for the first time in Ancient Russia. This is not true. Monuments of the 6-4th centuries BC e., belonging to Greece, Egypt, prove a high level of ownership of this type of jewelry technology. However, in ancient times they did not know the method of drawing for obtaining wire. It was made of a metal rod by forging and polishing. In Russia, the drawn-out scan became widespread in the 10th century. Around the same time, they began to use grain in scanned products. And only in the 15-16th centuries very different materials were used: enamel, precious stones, wood.
Russian craft
Scan in Ancient Russia is a kind of visiting card of original Russian jewelry art. This technique was widely used for the manufacture of not only jewelry, but also church utensils, salaries for holy books and icons, weapons, and household items. For example, even morocco boots were decorated with a scan.
In the 17th century, special workshops were opened in Russia, in which they were engaged in the manufacture of wire (drawing business). And at monasteries, in princely estates, workshops were opened in which the real talents of filigree work worked. The most famous masters of those times, chronicles refer to Ivan Fomin and Ambrose.
Scan is a very expensive product that was available only to wealthy people. After all, it was a delicate manual work, requiring the master accumulated over the years of experience, in which the secrets of mastery lay.
Heyday and decline
In the 18-19th centuries, the canyon in Russia was in its heyday. The range of products made in this jewelry technique is constantly expanding. Workshops appear in many cities, and soon the factory production of scanned products is being established.
The beginning of the 20th century, for obvious reasons, was a period of decline - war, revolution ... Of course, there was no time for jewelry.
However, in Soviet Russia it is reborn again. And to such an extent that it is gaining world fame. In 1937, at an exhibition in Paris, products by masters from the Krasnoselsky Handicraft cooperative received a gold medal, and they were also shown at an exhibition in New York (1939).
The products of craftsmen from the village of Kazachkovo (Nizhny Novgorod Region), the village of Mstera (Vladimirovskaya Region), and the city of Privolzhsk (Ivanovo Region) were also valued.
Over time, large factory manufactures of jewelry from filigree appeared in Moscow, Leningrad and other cities.
Types of Jewelry Scanning
Scan can be of three types, depending on the method of product execution. In a soldered filigree, a wire pattern is soldered onto a metal base.
There is no base in openwork filigree, wire patterns are fastened together, and metal lace is obtained. It is openwork filigree abroad often called Russian filigree.
The third view is a volume scan. As a rule, these are products consisting of several parts. So these parts, too, by scanning technique are performed separately, and then connected into a single whole. It can be, for example, animal figures, a tray, a vase, a cup holder. The fabric gives these products sophistication and originality.
Scan Materials
From ancient times it was believed that silver and gold were best suited for filigree. These noble, soft and impurity-free metals are easily drawn into the wire. For example, a thread that can be made from 1 gram of gold will be about 2500 meters long.
However, scanned products, which are obtained from precious metals, are very expensive, so they began to use other materials to reduce their cost.
First of all, copper, because it has high ductility and softness. In addition, the copper thread is easy to silver or gilt.
Aluminum, cupronickel, brass and some other metals are also used. The main thing is to be able to draw a thin wire from them. After all, a scan is a product consisting of wire patterns.
Scanning technique requires skill
Indeed, each master scanner has its own secrets of mastery. Even now, when the factory production of such products appeared, the share of manual labor remains large. And it depends on the master, on the skillful artist, how high-quality and charming a thing made by scanning technique will turn out.
The thickness of the wire for the various elements of the product, the number and composition of solder, the duration of firing wire ... A lot of secrets for every master. However, the main stages of work remain unchanged. It is not worth stopping at the production of the wire strands themselves. A scan is nevertheless directly the execution of a product, or even the creation of a work of art.
Having sorted the wire by thickness, the master twists it or leaves it smooth - it all depends on the product on which he begins to work. By the way, before starting it, he must make a full-size sketch of the product. Work is carried out on each part separately. They bend strictly according to the sketch. For small ones, special tools such as tweezers are used, and large fingers can be handled. When making openwork patterns, the parts are first glued to the sketch, and then soldered together. The paper on which the sketch is applied burns when soldered, as a result only the product remains.
The soldered scan is immediately mounted on a metal base.
The final procedure is silvering things and polishing them.
Originality
To give originality from a scan, special techniques are used.
The first is the use of grains, small balls. They are already soldered to the finished product in specially prepared recesses. And immediately give things elegance and sophistication.
It’s even more interesting to make a scan of the mob. What it is? The graphic pattern applied to the product is sprinkled with an alloy of tin, copper, lead, sulfur, silver. Then firing is carried out, the mobile melts, and the drawing is filled with this composition.
One cannot fail to mention such a technique as enameling. It uses the vitreous mass with which the product is coated. Enamel is very different. The most interesting, perhaps painted, the so-called enamel. The fabric is painted with multi-colored paints, which are fixed by firing.
In conclusion, those who want to purchase real filigree products can be advised to visit special jewelry exhibitions more often. There is a decent assortment, and you can find real works of art from filigree.