Hey dear community, I hope you are doing well and you had a nice weekend which was full of positive experiences! In this article I would like to discuss the goldsmiths in antiquity and hope you are able to expand your knowledge a little.
Recently I had the opportunity to photograph these old artifacts which are associated with the art of goldsmithing and even if the term goldsmith originated in the Middle Ages, this form of blacksmithing has been known since ancient times. During the Middle Ages, the art of blacksmithing was generally divided into different areas and so it came to goldsmithing, weaponsmith, farrier and more and in addition to the processing of gold, the goldsmiths also used silver and even before the Middle Ages this profession had a high priority. Depending on the culture, there were different characteristics when it comes to the production or choice of motifs and because of the low hardness and melting point, it was one of the metals which was easy to process and predominantly the jewelry was made of sheet metal or wire of gold and was rarely casted into mould and in this way even complicated works were created and it was generally considered a very complex work. One of the oldest processes is also called granulation and describes a technique in which it is about shaping small balls that should decorate the jewelry and this technique still amazes many scientists today and is a good example of how precisely the goldsmiths already worked back then and this process was probably already known to the ancient Egyptians and was even more refined in later cultures. The works of art were almost always engraved and decorated with a variety of symbolism and, in addition to their use as jewelry, also had an important mythological background and often certain works were linked to the cult of gods and had a strong religious significance. Often symbols were hammered into the soft metal with certain shapes and the surface was typically decorated with a sicele and the trade of minerals has also influenced the work of the goldsmiths and with the export of gemstones from other countries, the procedure also changed and more gemstones were integrated into the works to make the works even more magnificent.
Many thanks for stopping and I hope you could learn something new about goldsmithing! I captured these pictures with my iPhone 12.
