There is filigree in Spain, France, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Turkey, Africa, South America, China, India…. It is, therefore, not a national art, as has often been made to believe or thought. In fact, the ancient journey of the filigree technique throughout time has made it a world art, even though each territory that adopted and developed it has given it its own distinctive characteristics, linked to the cultural contexts in which it occurs, allowing us to distinguish its origin and associate it with a specific territory of dissemination.

It is thought that the influence of Eastern and Hellenistic goldsmithing was exercised in the Iberian Peninsula, so the filigree technique in Hispanic goldsmithing dates from this period, essentially as a decorative element of pre-existing pieces. In the 8th century, the Arabs already found in the Iberian Peninsula (in the workshops of Visigothic and earlier goldsmiths) important skills and technical developments, which led them to further enhance and develop goldsmithing, with particular emphasis on the filigree technique.

The abundance of metal extracted from the mines existing in Portuguese territory, as well as the gold brought from the overseas colonies, the technical skill and aesthetic taste of the craftsmen, and the interest of the wealthier classes in this product, made this art reach a considerable level of development and evolution over the centuries.

The establishment of goldsmith workshops in the north of the country, particularly in Porto (the largest goldsmithing production center nationally), Guimarães, and Braga (lands of many goldsmiths) was later responsible for the emergence of the two emblematic production centers that became known for their work in the filigree technique: Gondomar (closely linked to the Porto workshops) and Póvoa de Lanhoso (linked to the Guimarães and Braga workshops). Within these two production centers, in Gondomar, the parishes of S. Cosme, Rio Tinto, Valbom, Fânzeres, and S. Pedro da Cova stood out, and in Póvoa de Lanhoso, Travassos and Sobradelo da Goma, parishes that still stand out today for their goldsmith work and, within this, for the filigree technique.

Thus, throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, these two centers developed and assumed a leading role in Portuguese goldsmithing. At the same time, we witness a weakening of the workshops in Porto, Guimarães, and Braga, which lost prominence (although they continued to produce). From this same period, the differences between the production in Gondomar and Póvoa de Lanhoso gradually faded and blurred, with the workshops in both areas able to produce the same type of pieces. They even often collaborate in carrying out works.

Thus, the forms and typologies of these two centers, which have established themselves over time (closely linked to so-called popular goldsmithing) and have spread through other regions to the rest of the country, are unanimously assumed and recognized as traditional Portuguese filigree, being sold by itinerant goldsmiths throughout the country (while there were no established resale shops or even workshops for local production) and delighting women of all classes and ages (who invested in gold, a security for the future and at the same time possessed adornment objects with which they beautified themselves and demonstrated their social status). Associated with costumes such as the emblematic Traje à Vianesa, Traje de Mordoma, and Traje de Noiva from Viana do Castelo (among others), and worn by women at specific times (peasant and rural women, especially in the north but also in other parts of the country), filigree becomes inseparable from a well-defined social image strongly identified with Portugal.


And within filigree, some pieces gain extraordinary prominence - the "minhoto" heart, the "arrecadas" (earrings), medals, "trancelins", necklaces, pendants, "laças" (bows)….

In this way, we believe that delimiting the geographical area of filigree production to one or another of the aforementioned territories or even to the northern region of the country would be reductive, not taking into account the historical reality (extremely ancient and widespread), the importance that the dissemination territories had for the affirmation and use of filigree (see, for example, the preponderance of filigree in the costumes and pilgrimages of Minho), nor the current production situation (the dissemination of filigree objects was such that today it is a craft production identified with the country itself and not with one or another production center, even having generated other workshops outside the aforementioned territories). This would be detrimental to its development as an art of great cultural interest, symbolically and traditionally linked to Portuguese identity.

Moreover, the technical specialization of some goldsmiths, especially the more contemporary ones trained in the area of design (regardless of where they are in the country), allows them to produce artisan filigree pieces, which happens in some cases. This situation makes it relevant to propose that the geographical production area should cover the entire country, with filigree pieces needing to comply with the specifications established in this specification book, regardless of where they are produced.

Thus, as stated above, it is proposed that the name to appear in the GI - Geographical Indication to be approved should be "Filigrana de Portugal", thus encompassing the entire national territory.

_{Source: Ramos, Graça, Caderno de Especificações para a certificação, 2017}