/nɪˈɛli/, U.S. /niˈɛli/, 1800s– niellos. niellon.adj.
/nɪˈɛləʊ/, U.S. /niˈɛloʊ//nɪˈɛli/, U.S. /niˈɛli/, 1800s– niellos. A. n.
1. Any of several black metallic alloys, composed of sulphur and either copper, silver, or lead, heated and used to fill designs incised in the surface of other metals, esp. silver.Once cooled and polished, the contrast between the black niello and the metallic surface creates an attractive decorative effect.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > artistic work in metal > [noun] > niello > material
niello1816
niel1873
1816 S. W. Singer Researches Hist. Playing Cards 93 (note) An impression from a Pax, engraved for the purpose of being filled with Niello.
1866 G. Stephens Old-Northern Runic Monuments I. i. 183 Much of the Niello has fallen away, and whole lines or parts of lines are now empty.
1877 W. Jones Finger-ring Lore 55 The outer surface is engraved, and partly filled up with niello.
1944 Speculum 19 37 The ‘Majesty’, in niello on silver, on the exterior of the diptych made for Bishop Gonzalo of Oviedo.
1985 Antiquaries Jrnl. June 3/8 Analysis detected some traces of niello in these lines.
2.
a. Ornamental work executed by the application of niello to engraved designs; this technique or style of decoration.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > artistic work in metal > [noun] > niello
niello1839
niello plate1845
niello-work1845
1839 N. Amer. Rev. July 121 He excelled in an art, then much practised in Florence, called niello.
1842 W. T. Brande Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art 399/1 It was the practice to decorate church and other plate with works in niello..designs hatched with a steel point upon gold or silver.
1883 Harper's Mag. June 60/1 The siyah kalambari, a sort of niello made at Moradabad..is one of the most familiar and highly finished forms of Indian metal-work.
1908 L. Wray in A. Wright 20th Cent. Impressions Brit. Malaya 244/1 The art of enamelling is also known to the Malays. The ware is called Jadam, which is equivalent to niello in England.
1944 Speculum 19 36 Its back is ornamented with bold scrollworks so like that, executed in niello, on the frame of a considerably earlier..altar, from Celanova.
1990 ‘J. Gash’ Very Last Gambado (1991) vi. 51 On the Continent niello was always highly desirable—pendants, brooches..personal jewelry.
b. A specimen of nielloed work; an article ornamented with niello.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > artistic work in metal > [noun] > niello > article of
niello1840
nielloware1967
1840 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 3 94/2 We see niellos upon bronze doors of Greek origin, even in Italy.
1841 Gentleman's Mag. 111 21 They are not so fortunate as to possess a Niello in silver.
1895 Pop. Sci. Monthly Mar. 597 Our modern door plates are really nielli also.
1908 M. J. Cawein Portrait in Poems 473 A crucifix and rosary; inlaid Arms, Saracen-elaborate; a strayed Nïello of Byzantium.
1989 Encycl. Brit. V. 404/2 Best known for his many drawings, Graf is represented by 100 extant woodcuts, a number of engravings, etchings and nielli.
3. A sulphur cast or paper print of a design to be filled with niello.This technique is regarded as a precursor of the copper-print process.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > intaglio printing > [noun] > impression of niello design
niello1854
1854 Househ. Words 9 181 These impressions have in some few cases been preserved, as art-curiosities, and they, as well the plates themselves, are termed nielli.
1866 W. T. Brande & G. W. Cox Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art (new ed.) (at cited word) These impressions of the early fathers of copper-plate printing still exist, and are known also as niellos.
1936 A. Hind (title) Nielli, chiefly Italian of the fifteenth century, plates, sulphur casts and prints preserved in the British Museum.
1976 E. Rhein Art of Print Making 201 The niello can be regarded as the graphic predecessor of the copperplate etching.
1984 Renaissance Q. 37 262 The consideration of early Italian engravings and nielli could, in fact, have helped Ames-Lewis in the formation of his ideas.
B. adj. (attributive).
Ornamented with niello; consisting of, or that may be made into, nielloed work.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > artistic work in metal > [adjective] > niello
niello1853
nielled1873
niellated1886
1853 Sci. Amer. 30 Apr. 264/3 It was a silver gauntlet niello bracelet, designed by D. Maclise.
1880 ‘Ouida’ Moths I. i. 2 Baptiste sublimised and apotheosised by niello buttons, old lace, and genius.
a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 635/1 The composition of the Russian tula or Niello silver, long kept secret, has been announced.
1947 J. C. Rich Materials & Methods Sculpt. vii. 198 A formula for niello enamel, which is not a true enamel, consists of the following ingredients: [silver, copper, lead, flowers of sulphur].
1974 N.Y. Times: Abstr. (Nexis) 25 May 26/1 Sale of Russian art, including icons, enamel work, niello wares.
2001 Bangkok Post (Nexis) 10 Jan. It is not known why silver containers were used..while in other Southeast Asian countries silver and, as in Thailand, silver and gold niello boxes are used.
Compounds
C1. † niello-cutting n. Obsolete rare† niello plate n. Obsolete rare† niello-worker n. Obsolete
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > artistic work in metal > [noun] > niello > engraving for niello
niello-cutting1864
1864 Chambers's Encycl. VI. 765 Much interest attaches to the art of niello-cutting.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > artistic work in metal > [noun] > niello
niello1839
niello plate1845
niello-work1845
1845 A. Jameson Mem. Early Ital. Painters I. 176 The earliest known impression of a niello plate.
niello print n.
ΚΠ
1936 Burlington Mag. Dec. 290/1 Italian niello-prints.
1973 Renaissance Q. 26 389 The exhibition..included some three hundred fifty engravings, niello prints, and woodcuts of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.
niello technique n.
ΚΠ
1951 Man 51 130 The circular brooches..representative of the later accomplishments of the Anglo Saxon in the..niello technique.
1997 Russian Life (Nexis) 1 Nov. 34 Totman has been widely known for metal working (especially the niello technique of ornamental inlay with a blackened silver alloy).
niello-work n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > artistic work in metal > [noun] > niello
niello1839
niello plate1845
niello-work1845
1845 A. Jameson Mem. Early Ital. Painters I. 175 The binding exhibits some beautiful specimens of niello-work.
1889 Harper's Mag. Aug. 340/2 Chains of silver or gold rings preciously wrought with chiselling or niello-work.
1955 Speculum 30 u8 The masters themselves were unknown, and so [was]..the relation of copperplate engraving in Florence to niello work.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > artistic work in metal > [noun] > niello > artist
niellist1841
niello-worker1845
1845 A. Jameson Mem. Early Ital. Painters I. 177 Maso Finiguerra, or any other niello-worker.
1890 New Englander (New Haven, Connecticut) June 500 A tendency of shading to parallelism in the lines, unmarked by cross-hatchings (which was a treatment used by niello workers) is almost universal.
C2.
niello-inlaid adj.
ΚΠ
1990 Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 22 Apr. 32/3 A niello-inlaid plate with hunting scenes and an inscription around the central medallion.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
niellov.
/nɪˈɛləʊ/, U.S. /niˈɛloʊ/ Now rare.
transitive. To inlay or decorate with niello; (in quot. 2000) to inlay using a similar technique. Usually in passive. Cf. nielloed adj.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > artistic work in metal > cover with metal [verb (transitive)] > niello
niello1866
1866 G. Stephens Old-Northern Runic Monuments I. i. 183 The whole runic inscription, and the two long lines..are nielloed.
1889 Harper's Mag. Aug. 333/1 Such inscriptions form..the almost constant accompaniment of Russian silversmiths' work, particularly in cursive borders around the borders of loving-cups or bratinas, either engraved in relief or nielloed.
1892 G. Lambert Gold & Silversmith's Art 45 All the gold, all the silver..stamped, carved and chased, and nielloed.
2000 Chicago Sun-Times (Nexis) 24 Dec. 12 The furniture of ancient Rome was made of exotic woods... Sometimes it was nielloed with gold or silver.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1816
v.1866