Filigree Beads by Jane Perry

Jane Perry, who has researched and written extensively about traditional jewellery and most particularly about filigree, who is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquarians, and has been a Visiting Scholar at the Victoria & Albert Museum, has just published a lengthy and amply illustrated article on the filigree beads. ‘ ‘A fairy dome of splendid architecture’: a typology of the double-rosette construction in filigree beads,’ in Jewellery Studies: The Journal of the Society of Jewellery Historians, 2024/1.

The article is free to download HERE.

The article considers filigree beads, mostly of silver, from ancient to more recent times. Beads and occasionally related items such as pomanders and buttons, drawn from the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Europe are all considered.

The article looks at techniques, and patterns, and attempts to develop a a typology of the many types of filigree patterns used to infill the surfaces of such beads.

It is a fascinating read particularly given how much detail can be drawn from just one small part of traditional jewellery – the filigree bead.

The article makes use of an image from our website and gallery, with due credit. We are always happy to make available our thousands of images for reproduction in scholarly work, and we ask only that permission is sought and for due credit to be given in recognition of our ownership of the copyright for the images. Using images otherwise. is a clear breach of copyright.

Receive our monthly catalogues of new items by email.

See our entire Catalogue.

See our Video reels.

Listen to our Podcasts on collecting and other matters.