Each week, we auction an enormous amount of incredible items. More often than not, items have either an incredible story or a certain historical value, that you might not know about. We’d like to change that! This week, we discuss an amazing Indian jewellery technique, from our ethnic and tribal jewellery auction, called Thewa.
Thewhat?
Thewa work can be described as the fusion-appliqué of a pierced-work-patterned sheet of gold foil onto transparent colored glass to create a unit that is then mounted with a separate foil backing into a bezel in jewelry or an object. Each unit consists of a flat piece of transparent red, green or blue glass, the colors intentionally suggesting ruby, emerald and sapphire. The patterned metal sheet is pure 24 kt gold. Its origin dates back to the Mughal age.
Passing the secret
This is a technique that was practised by only a few families of craftsmen in Partabgarh (North India) and the secrets of the craft passes from father to sons, who start learning it at the age of 5. It was created in 1767, but it flourished during Victorian times when an important Western market was developed. The technique was kept in secret for decades. In 1965 there were still 5 families producing Thewa work in Partabgarh.
Find it in our auctions
In our ethnic & tribal jewellery auctions, every once in a while, a Thewa item will pop up. This week, we have for example these beautiful 22 kt gold vintage Indian earrings, created using the Thewa technique and earlier we sold this rare 22 kt Indian bracelet. So keep an eye on our auctions, and maybe you can become a happy owner of such an amazing item of jewellery.