‘A fairy dome of splendid architecture’ A typology of the double-rosette construction in filigree beads.

Beads and buttons were among the earliest articles made in the new type of filigree that appeared in Europe in the late Middle Ages. The characteristics of this filigree were peculiarly appropriate to the structure of beads, and the production of beads may, indeed, have influenced the development of filigree itself in that period. The most common design was, and continues to be, a double rosette. Metal beads, least of all those made of filigree, have received little academic attention compared to that devoted to beads made of gem material and its natural derivative, glass. This article examines the widespread use of filigree in beads and buttons, and discusses how the designs and functions developed over time. Although filigree is made everywhere in much the same way, and with the most basic of tools, workers in different places and at different times have produced surprisingly different outcomes in terms of motif. The variations in these filigree motifs can help in identifying the origin of the objects which utilise them. The most common are described here in detail, and comparisons show the similarities and variations of motif in different times and places of production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]