02-21-2007, 06:27 PM
Salve,
There are two basic types of niello. Roman was silver, copper and sulphur (as described by Pliny the Elder), while later medieval niello used lead instead of copper. Both can be polished to a high gloss as C19th Russian Tula craftsmanship shows. It wasn't used just for inlays, but it could be used to cover an entire sphere, rather like a modern glass maker will overlay a basic glass object with a second layer of glass by turning it in a kiln allowing the molten glass to cover the entire surface.
Vale,
Celer.
There are two basic types of niello. Roman was silver, copper and sulphur (as described by Pliny the Elder), while later medieval niello used lead instead of copper. Both can be polished to a high gloss as C19th Russian Tula craftsmanship shows. It wasn't used just for inlays, but it could be used to cover an entire sphere, rather like a modern glass maker will overlay a basic glass object with a second layer of glass by turning it in a kiln allowing the molten glass to cover the entire surface.
Vale,
Celer.
Marcus Antonius Celer/Julian Dendy.
