damascene jewelry

first, my big thanks to everyone who gave such positive feedback on these tiny black and gold earrings that i found for .50p at a church sale last saturday.  shout-outs especially to heidilisa of Never Rush Ranch for peaking my interest in doing more research on them :)

i found out that these are called damascene or "damasquinado de oro" which means, "the art of decorating non-precious metals with gold".  apparently, this  art of jewelry-making has roots in the Middle Ages and originated from Damascus, Syria  (hot in the news lately).

there are only two very different cities in the world which produces this type of jewelry...Toledo, Spain and Tokyo, Japan!

here in europe,  two distinct styles emerged:  the Renaissance and the Arabesque. the Arabesque features geometric designs while the Renaissance motifs include... you guessed it... birds and flowers!

i took a pic of it again with a 5-pence coin beside it for comparison.  i found a retailer online and you can see some pieces that are quite similar :)

i am not sure yet if this is authentic or not but i am stoked that i am now the proud owner of a Spanish Renaissance damascene piece :)  

olé!