Filigree

(fil'e-gre,) or FILIGRANE. (From L. filum, a thread, and granum, a grain.] Filigree-work is a delicate and elaborate manufacture, primarily executed in threads of gold and silver, but lately imitated with colored and gilt paper. In Sumatra, fabrications of filigree work are carried to very great perfection. In China, where the F. is chiefly of silver, many beautiful articles are produced. Malta has also a celebrity for articles of this kind. [s. 364]