You can see what granulation is not only in museums, but also at exhibitions, in art salons. This technique of jewelers, popular to this day, has been used in Russia for at least 12 centuries, since there are finds dating back to the 8th century AD. And abroad, even before our era, unique things were created using granulation.
It is not at all difficult to determine exactly what granulation is - this is a method of artistic processing of metal, in which tiny balls are made from it. Then these balls are soldered to a metal base, creating a variety of patterns.
Another definition of beading: decorating jewelry with small metal balls fastened in the form of an ornament on a metal base or complementing openwork filigree (thin wire patterns).
Russian grain
There is evidence that granulation in Russia is probably even older than filigree. For example, medieval artifacts found in the Urals, dating back to the 8th century, contain grain. And filigree in this area appears only on objects of the 10th century.
Decor of granulation is found on temporal decorations, pendants, rings, rings, earrings, as well as scabbards and other items of rich everyday life found in treasures. The patterns were very expressive, with a special play of light and shadow. Complex compositions were created. One of the interesting options is to fasten grains in the form of pyramids, which were used to decorate the product.
Special attention to the granulation technique that existed in the 10th-14th centuries is associated not only with archaeological excavations and the study of ancient artifacts. Of course, the evidence of the skills of our ancestors, who knew what granulation is in various regions of the country, is interesting. But modern jewelers, in order to create new works of art, are interested in repeating the unique old technologies, thanks to which they managed to create real masterpieces.
How jewelry "grain" is made
Scientists believe that the methods of making grain have not changed over the centuries. Masters owned several methods of its creation.
One of them is to pass a jet of molten gold or silver into the water through a filter. The result is a grain that is heterogeneous in shape and diameter.
When granulation is made from blanks of any kind (cuts, rings, grains), then these metal parts are straightened in a powder obtained from charcoal. The result is balls of a standard size.
Soldering is a mystery of granulation
A question that is studied not only by historians, but alsospecialists in the field of metal science, how the grain was attached in one case or another, since the technique of soldering differed significantly from different masters.
Connecting balls together or soldering granules to the base is a topic that has been of interest to jewelers for all ages. There were many special secrets in this technology. In some samples, it is almost impossible to see how the ball is attached to the base.
Fine grain and filigree solder is a man-made miracle based on the properties of gold, silver and mercury. Jewelers made an amalgam of them, after which they applied them to an already finished pattern of filigree and grain. Mercury evaporated in a very heated object - and all parts were firmly connected to each other.
Techniques for laying filigree and granulation differed in different territories. Historians study in detail not only what grain is, but also the differences in its manufacture.
Real and "false" grains
The grains are small balls that have been skillfully soldered. But the "grain", which was obtained by casting in a special mold made for the entire decoration, is a false grain. Such false, of course, was the cast filigree.
Cast jewelry was produced in the 12th-13th century to simplify and speed up the process of making them. The craftsmen knew what filigree and granulation were, they knew how to make them, but, most likely, there was a demand for cast products. Although the pattern, compared to real filigree and grain, became somewhat fuzzy.
Researchers studying and reconstructing the technology of making real grains suggest that the ancient master in a week (summer, with a longdaylight hours) could not manage to make more than one earring with several beads. Such decorations were very expensive.
