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Granulation: tiny gold spheres from Kition to the bench

Granulation is a way of decorating gold with tiny spheres of gold. The spheres, called granules, are set out in a pattern on a metal surface and joined to it. Erhard Brepohl’s goldsmithing manual treats it as a special form of fusing, with joins so small that the grains seem simply to rest in place. Done well, the work shows no visible solder, which is what made it so hard for later goldsmiths to explain.

An old technique reaches Cyprus

The history of granulation is long. Jochem Wolters’s 1983 German study traces it from 2560 BC, according to a review of the book. An article from Lang Antiques gives the royal tombs of Ur, in Mesopotamia, as the oldest finds, at about 2500 BC. From there it moved to Anatolia and Syria and reached Troy by about 2100 BC. A 1995 article in JCK suggests that Phoenician traders probably carried the technique across the eastern Mediterranean.

In Cyprus it is found on Late Bronze Age gold. The Metropolitan Museum’s Cesnola Collection includes a Cypriot gold pendant with granulated ornament, dated about 1400 to 1050 BC. Guerra and Rehren note that Cypriot gold of this kind often has links in style elsewhere, with granulated triangles pointing to Syria and Palestine and granulation more generally to the Minoan and Mycenaean world.

The tomb at Kition

A well-documented Cypriot example comes from later, and from Larnaca, the ancient Kition. In 1998 archaeologists excavated an isolated built tomb there, numbered MLA 1742, with horse sacrifices in its entrance passage. Pavlos Flourentzos and Maria Luisa Vitobello date it to around the end of the 8th century BC and suggest it held a member of Kition’s Phoenician upper class, perhaps of the royal family. Their paper counts 23 pieces of gold jewellery; the companion study by Guerra and Rehren refers to 25 gold items.

Granulation appears on several of them. One bracelet (MLA 1742/18) has a braided strap of loop-in-loop chains joined to a round box setting that holds an agate, with an eye in the stone that the authors compare to the eye of Horus. The side and top frame of the setting carry rows of granules alternating with granulated triangles. On the necklace, two acorn-shaped beads have a row of granules at the upper hemisphere, with three granulated triangles pointing downwards. A lentoid bead has rows of granules with triangles and lozenges, and a beaten gold disc has one large granule at its centre.

Guerra and Rehren examined the tomb’s gold in Nicosia with a portable microscope and a handheld X-ray fluorescence analyser. Most pieces contain 15 to 25 per cent silver and about 1 to 2.5 per cent copper, which they read as natural gold, neither refined nor deliberately alloyed. Three signet rings are almost pure gold. All the objects show signs of use, so they were not made only for burial. The authors also compare the work with later Etruscan gold and find the Kition wires and foils much less delicate.

Their published study concentrates on a fibula and on the alloys, and it does not report how the granules on these pieces were fixed. That question stays open here.

Granulation also appears at Amathus. British Museum records from the site include a Cypro-Archaic earring of about 750 to 500 BC with filigree and granulation on the rod that carries its cornelian bead. A lion’s-head pendant of 475 to 300 BC has a granulated band covering the join between its front and back.

How the spheres are made and fixed

Modern reference works describe the steps, and they are general accounts rather than a record of any one workshop.

To make granules, the goldsmith rolls very thin sheet, cuts it into a fringe and then into small squares, or snips fine wire into short pieces. Lang’s article also describes coiling wire on a thin mandrel and cutting it into tiny rings, which gives more even sizes. The pieces are layered with powdered charcoal in a crucible, which stops them sticking together, and heated until each draws itself into a ball. They are then cleaned and sorted through sieves, because uneven sizes spoil a pattern. Lang gives 1 mm as the largest size to aim for.

Fixing them is the difficult part. Lang separates three methods:

Brepohl describes how narrow the margin is. Stop too soon and the joins are weak; stay in the heat too long and the grains melt into the sheet.

Lost and found again

Sources disagree on how much was ever forgotten. Etruscan goldsmiths of the 7th and 6th centuries BC made grains far smaller than those of earlier makers, and they left no written method. An Etruscan gold vessel in the Victoria and Albert Museum, 6 cm high, is covered almost entirely by 137,000 granules, according to the review of Wolters’s book.

In the 19th century, finds of Etruscan gold drew the attention of the Castellani family of jewellers in Rome. Alessandro Castellani spent some 30 years on the problem, but according to JCK his surviving granulation appears to be conventionally soldered, with the traces disguised. Lang records that he and his contemporaries did not solve the Etruscan method.

The practical answer came in the 20th century. JCK credits Hans Joachim Wagner with a theory in 1913, and H. A. P. Littledale, Hans Michael Wilm and Elisabeth Treskow with working methods reached independently. Littledale patented his in 1933. Brepohl takes a different view of the story, arguing that granulation was never really lost. Pliny and others described it, and metalworkers in folk traditions went on using it. JCK likewise notes that it survived in Iran, Pakistan, India and Indonesia. The sources read here do not settle which method ancient goldsmiths used. Lang names both fusing and colloidal soldering as Etruscan practice, and JCK calls colloidal soldering only probable.

A Cypriot goldsmith interviewed by the Cyprus Mail in 2026 made a related point about tools. In his view, an experienced maker with simple hand tools could still reach the quality of ancient work, and the main thing modern equipment has changed is the time it takes.

Looking after fine gold work

Some general guidance applies to any finely worked gold, granulated or not. These are common jewellers’ recommendations, not a statement about any particular piece.

High-karat gold does not tarnish in the way silver does, but it is soft. Store pieces separately, in a lined box or a soft pouch, so that harder stones and other jewellery do not scratch them. Granules and fine wires stand proud of the surface, which makes them the first parts to catch on fabric or take a knock.

Clean gently. Lukewarm water with a little mild soap and a very soft brush is usually enough, followed by rinsing and drying with a soft cloth. Avoid harsh chemicals, chlorine and abrasive polishing cloths, which can wear surfaces and dull detail. Ultrasonic cleaners are best avoided for anything with set stones or delicate joins unless a jeweller has advised otherwise.

Put jewellery on after perfume, cosmetics and hairspray, and take it off for swimming, sport and heavy work. If a granule or setting ever looks loose, take the piece to a goldsmith before wearing it again.

Sources