Damascening In Toledo, Spain
Damascening, Damascening is the art of inlaying different metals into one another—typically, gold or silver into a darkly oxidized steel background—to produce intricate patterns similar to niello. The English term comes from a perceived resemblance to the rich tapestry patterns of damask silk. Damascene arrived to Toledo from Damascus. Nevertheless, the art has long been practised in Persia, Japan and even China. Damascene ware - damasquinado or damasquino, in Spanish - is the art of decorating steel with threads of gold and silver. Toledo has developed a very important industry around this craft, also known as Toledo Gold. The art of damascene has passed from generation to generation within the same family for centuries, and has become a hallmark of this beautiful city. Toledo supplies to many shops in Spain where the damascene pieces are sold as a souvenir. During the last decades the production of damascene has grown from mainly artisanal to industrialize, given the level of production made and traded. However, many shops still offer handcrafted jewels elaborated following the tradition of ancient times. It is good to know that the quality of the handmade work is far superior to that developed industrially, given that this the latter process is similar to print a drawing on steel, while the manual handicraft work is performed by embedding the precious materials in a base of iron or steel by hammering, following the sketch previously drawn in the piece. Damascene work has conserved the traditional designs without many changes over the years, but there are a few handicraft workers who design innovative pieces of jewelry, which later are sold in some of the shops of the city (not in all). Nowadays you can find also craftmen who perform high quality pieces, commissioned by private customers or collectors. Info:Wikipedia
