In this book we will study the history, where to buy the paper products, what types of backing you should get etc. Filigree work, (quillwork), we think was started way back in ancient times. Starting with the Egyptian, Greek and Etruscan tombs. The delicate patterns and shapes of animals, flowers etc were found on the outside of the tombs. Later on, this open work was made of very fine wires that formed lacy scrolls and leaves. Some were fanciful interlaced patterns that looked like fruits, flowers, even some were shaped like animal figures. Some were figures of people. Some of the patterns were geometric in shape, or gracefully, flowing, twining and spiraling. Some designs were found on ancient type vases, pillars, mosaics, fancy lettering and any kind of decorative art work. Paper Art (filigree) was in its finest form back in Greece during the fourth and fifth centuries. It was also in Italy during the seventeenth century. Probably as early as the thirteenth century, nuns were said to have begun working with paper filigree to decorate medallions with elaborate designs, and they decorated the inside of the monasteries and churches. When paper filigree was rolled loosely and put on edge, as in quilling, it looked like metal filigree, especially when the exposed edge was gilded or silvered. The gilded edges looked just like wire or metal, it even fooled art experts at first glance. If the coils were left in its natural color, it looked just like ivory. The rolled paper art looked like the more expensive filigree work, but in fact, it was only paper. Mosaic was another art form that quilling does resemble a lot. Mosaic art work was used by the Greeks and Romans and its elaborate forms were in Persia and Turkey. Their marbled designs were small pieces fastened together with glass, colored stones, or other materials. This made quilling very unique because the paper fit right into the mosaic design and was less expensive. Actually, churches were the first to use the filigree because it was the least expensive and produced brilliant results that fooled people into thinking more expensive materials were being used to decorate the churches. Paper folding, the craft of folding paper into objects without cutting, pasting, or additional decoration, has been practiced in the Orient for centuries. Although its origins are unknown, it may have been derived from the older tradition of cloth folding. In Japan, paper folding--called origami--evolved into a highly sophisticated mode employing hundreds of intricate folds and was valued for its ceremonial and decorative functions. As decorative playthings, origami commonly takes the form of birds, fish, insects, animals, and figures, sometimes with movable parts to imitate the action of the object depicted, as well as furnishings and flowers. In the West, the educator Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852) introduced paper folding into his kindergarten movement in Germany during the 19th century. Later the Bauhaus, the influential German school of art and design, utilized the craft for training its students in functional design. During the 1930's an interest in paper folding emerged in Spain and South America, perhaps stimulated by the Spanish writer Miguel de Unamuno, who exposed it as a hobby and invented several original folded forms. In the United States and England, paper folding also was enjoyed, not only as a recreational pastime but also as a type of mathematical construction. A characteristic example is the flexagon (discovered 1939); when correctly flexed, this paper structure undergoes radical alterations in its faces. Art Deco is an architectural and decorative-arts style, popular from 1910 to 1940, that is characterized by highly stylized natural and geometric forms and ornaments, usually strongly symmetrical. Outstanding American examples of Art Deco are the Chrysler Building and the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Some of the century's most significant artists, such as Pablo Picasso, Fernand Leger, Sonia Delaunay, all produced work in this style, as did designers of furnishings, textiles, jewelry, and advertising. This was some of the ways that filigree was used. Art Deco themes were often classical motifs reduced to geometric stylizations. Edgar Brandt decorated wrought-iron screens with symmetrical fountains; Emil Ruhlman inlaid ebony cabinets with ivory to depict floral arrangements of geometrical precision. This was all forms of quilling, now in modern times some other materials were used, but the technique was the same. Different geometric forms is the foundation for quilling. Pictures of castles dated back in 1789 and the resemblance to mosaic is strong. Portraits were made with fancy filigree and cribbage boards with added quilling to make it unique. Quillwork in America that survived is mainly sconces. These sconces are basically shadow box frames with candle holders extending from the bottoms of the frames. Most of these have come from the Boston areas. Some had birds, others flowers. Very elaborate pictures were created with this kind of filigree. Decorative boxes with quilling on it. Some made with rolled and fluted paper made an interesting design. Endless wall hangings were created in early times. Others in the 1950s were created and put in antique magazines. A lot of the filigree has been restored by Mrs. Margaret Carlson of Kansas City, Missouri. Once she achieved this she started the quilling up again. Using wood stain and liquid wax, adds a beautiful finish to boxes such as jewelry boxes after the quilling has been finished. ------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------End of Chapter--