Art and arms might seem contradictory concepts, but like all human artifacts, weapons have been a vehicle for artistic expression. The swords of many types and periods which we see in museums today have often been transformed into objects of such beauty by the craftsmen who made them that we forget they were instruments of […]
Silver filigree work has its origins in Mesopotamia and Egypt from where it spread to Turkey and other parts of Asia. From Turkey, it was exported with Ottoman rule into Yugoslavia and Greece. It is also known as cift isi (tweezer work) and vav isi from the Arabic letter vav which is somewhat similar to […]
Meerschaum is a German word meaning, sea-foam, alluding to the belief that it was the compressed whitecaps of waves, just as it is said in mythology for the goddess of beauty Aphrodite. It is a hydrated magnesium silicate. Magnesium doesn’t make it strong and the hydrogen and oxygen don’t make it cool. It is the […]
Shells could be regarded as a symbol of longevity since they survive for millions of years as fossils. At the same time certain mollusk shells, principally the pearl oyster but also many other species are the source of pearls and mother of pearl, the iridescent inner layer below the horny exterior. The large shells of […]
