Florentine engraving |SARKISSIAN

Florentine engraving is one of the important jewelry techniques, which has firstly appeared in

: Engraving on gold cigarette case

the 15th century in Florence - the cradle of Renaissance, the city of the most skilled goldsmiths, artisans, painters, architects, sculptors, ruled by the Medici dynasty. Florentine engraving - an artistic craftsmanship, featured the talent and great dexterity, genius, outstanding creativity and last but not least, technique: all indispensable elements for creating a work of art, a unique piece of jewellery.

: Working with burin

The important tool used in order to create a distinctive piece called burin. Medieval goldsmiths used the burin to engrave thin layers of metal, usually silver, then filled the carved lines with a black substance - niello( nigellum) to bring out the design.

In the 15th century artists such as Andrea Mantegna, Martin Schongauer and Albrecht Durer engraved their drawings directly onto the copper giving the burin an autonomous expressive role. They raised engraving from a minor craft to a major art form. Their works: «Saint Anthony tormented by demons» (Schongauer), «Bacchanal with a Wine Vat» (Mantegna), «Adam and Eve» (Durer) show us the excellent craftsmanship;

: Engravings of the 15-16th century, from left to right: «Saint Anthony tormented by demons» (Andrea Mantegna), «Bacchanal with a Wine Vat» (Martin Schongauer), «Adam and Eve» (Albrecht Dürer).

Masterfully engraved lines create a vivid linear pattern against the white background, the figures highlighted by a three dimensional presence, evolved a technique of shading engravings with shirt lines of varying width. Their masterpieces contain an almost unimaginable density of fine distinct lines, form, texture and shading simultaneously.

: Hand engraving burins

The burin is a thin steel bar with a sharp end cut crosswise and having different types of sections: square, triangle, rhomboid etc. A wooden handle shaped like a half-sphere(mushroom) can be adapted to the artist's hand so that he can exert a constant pressure with his hand and press the tool with his finger at the same time. The inclination of the burin on the surface depends on the kind of tip used. In old times during engraving, the plate was laid on a leather cushion filled with sand to keep it from shifting under the pressure of the artist's hand but so that he can move it as he works. To create curves, he holds the burin stationary and rotates the cushion.

Today general principals of engraving are still the same, but engravers have additional opportunities to simplify their painstaking labor.

: Preliminary drawing

Some artisans use pneumatic impact engraving machines, which produces sufficient pressure at the pike of the burin eliminating graver necessity to pull the knob. He needs just to follow the pattern, which is definitely accelerates the process of engraving. They also use special spinning holdings and fixtures instead of leather cushion. Besides there are a lot of ancillaries for the application of complicated patterns and drawings. Which means, that the engraver doesn't need to be qualified artist to create preliminary drawing, he can just print the pattern on a special film, stamp it on the engraving object surface and start the burin work.

: Signet Ring & Watch-case engraving

As far as the Florentine engraving has appeared in a jewelry environ, the pieces of jewelry art are the most ubiquitous objects of this type of decoration: rings, pendants, brooches, cigaret cases, business card holders, silver handbags and so on. In gun production this technic is also has a great demand. Hand engraving of all steel elements of the gan: butt, shutter and even chamber - is preferable and highly revered by true connoisseurs of high art weapons, considered as an attribute of luxury and a sign of good taste.

: Rifle engraving art

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