GuyM, without seeing the piece in hand, it would be hard to speculate if what you saw in Europe was koftgari or inlay. I would suspect it was inlay. Lots of inlay was done on European arms.

Yannis, you are right. Niello is used on silver.

Well, the artist who was demonstrating his work explained his technique exactly as you and Jens did: first the surface is crosshatched then the decorative metal is hammered onto the hatched area to form the design.
That's why I'm surprised when you say the art is practised only in India, perhaps it has been revived in Europe recently.

Guy

Finally able to get back to you on niello:

A sulfur oxide mix is used and placed in the recesses of the silver work. It is a layer of material and heat is used. Some one mentioned engraving - although engraving is not part of the niello process, engraving, chasing, stampinng, and other techniques can be used to depress the silver thus making it possible for the niello chemicals to sink and hold. Only the raised surfaces are cleaned of material and show exposed silver.

Regarding kofgari:

GuyM - for some reason I was not catching on to what you were saying. 2 days ago it hit me and you are correct - Europe has been using in effect the same or similar technique, only they call it damascening. Basically the same process though - I have seen it on earlier 15th and 16th century Spanish earred daggers and even on Italian ornate hilts. I apologize for my brain not catching on sooner (tried a brain transplant once, and...well...um...couldn't find any donors :eek: ). Again, as I mentioned earlier, today I think it is only done in India.

I'm afraid I have to disagree about damascening being only done today in India... :)

There's a quite big damascening industry in Spain, with a tradition of centuries. Today, it centers around the Toledo Schools of damascening. Their work can be seen in all the gift shops that plague the country, with a wide range of qualities and applied to the most varied objects, though mainly focused on jewellery and decoration. Some examples, taken from a what could be a typical gift shop:

http://www.elcoquigifts.com/images/PLGraphic1.jpg http://www.elcoquigifts.com/miva/gra...rishbangle.jpg http://www.elcoquigifts.com/images/JBracelet.jpg

High-end Spanish damascening has been considered a prized collectible (link)for a long time, with the 19th c. seeing some of the most refined masters of the art, as were the Zuloaga family.

http://www.khalili.org/3_ZUL/images/...ge_vol_III.jpg

The main technique is essentially a variation of the koftgari process (link). It is supposed to have arrived to Spain with the Moorish invasions at the beginning of the 8th c.

I'm also sure this tradition is alive in other places, as well. :cool:

I have to change this statement. I checked recently some more old niello and indeed in some cases it is applied into engraving as Jens says.

Now I believe that niello is applied both methods: Direct on silver or into engraved pattern. Common sense says that second method gives more endurance.

Thank you Marc. I was not aware of this.

Yannis, both are correct. Niello must be applied directly onto silver, but only in the recessed areas of the silver. Recessed areas are done by use of chasing, engraving, planishing, stamping, etc. Thus it will have more endurance over time as you suggest. As I mentioned, only the raised areas (those that stand out) will not be niello but exposed silver.

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