[Jewelry making - Article 00436] - Re: [Orchid] Making micro mosaics

[Terri May]

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Hi Ian,

    Thank you for explaining a method of creating multiples in pietra
    dura (as well as wood). 

    The original post that I was answering asked for suggestions for
    micro mosaic construction, and since the method I explained is what
    I intend to try, I posted it.  I never claimed that it was
    historically acurate (I know the epoxy is a thoughoughly modern
    interpretation). 

    That said, there is a little more history that you might be
    interested in..... 

    Mosaics differ from micromosaics, in that: 

    "MICROMOSAIC: A term coined by Arthur Gilbert to refer to Roman
    mosaics with the smallest tesserae, sometimes as many as 1,500-5,000
    per quare inch." 

    Laura Hiserote writes on her site about micromosaics: 

    "The elongated tesserae used in micromosaics are made of glass
    threads (smalti filati in Italian)." 

    Another site defines: 

    "SMALTI FILATI: Filati means ?thread? in Italian. Smalti filati
    literally means thread tesserae. The opaque enamel is heated and
    pulled out to make long thin strands shaped similar to spaghetti or
    linguini. These are then broken into shorter pieces called tesserae.
    These originated about mid 18th century at the Vatican Mosaic
    Workshops." 

    And the curator of the Gilbert Collection writes: 

    "Over a period of many years, 28,000 different shades of tesserae
    were created. These were composed of an opaque substance which was
    neither shiny nor brittle like former glass mosaics. While the exact
    formula has been kept a secret, the Vatican calls the substance
    ?enamel?. ?Persons who have never seen a mosaic made find it
    difficult to imagine how with small bits of colored enamel the most
    valuable paintings may be exactly copied.? [Begni, The Vatican,
    1914, p. 501].  By 1770 most of the altar paintings by the great
    masters were successfully reproduced in mosaic; to this day, most
    visitors to Saint Peter?s do not realize they are looking at mosaics
    and not paintings. Around 1775, some artists at St. Peter?s began
    making miniature mosaics using exceptionally small tesserae. These
    were the first of  what we now call ?micromosaics?. Initially, as in
    larger pictures, the tesserae were all square or rectilinear in
    shape, but methods were eventually refined so that individual pieces
    could be shaped to appeared almost like brush strokes." 

    (I think that the Vatican called them "enamels" because they had
    added some tempering chemicals to make them "softer" and less prone
    to brittle breakage, much like ceramic glazes or metal-compatible
    vitreous enamels.  But this is just speculation.) 

    Ian wrote: 

>     It is possible to get square section glass rods and these would be
>     preferable for your plan as you would get much more colourful and
>     better looking designs rather than having 30 - 40% cement. 

    Can you really direct me to filiments in the 1mm or less diameter
    size?  To square a rod requires extra work, and I would think that
    would make them cost-prohibitive.  Where do you think could I find
    them? 

    There really won't be 30 to 40% cement around the circular glass rod
    filiments -- for example, take several same-denomination coins, and
    lay them on a table, and push them as close together as possible
    without overlapping. I didn't mathematically "solve for the empty
    space", but it looks much more like ten percent.  I'll just have to
    try it, and see how it looks.  Hooray for experimentation! 

Thanks for your posting.
--Terri


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