Category: Jewish Communities

Damascening is the art of inlaying different metals into one another—typically, gold or silver into a darkly oxidized steel background—to produce intricate patterns similar to niello. The English term comes from a perceived resemblance to the rich tapestry patterns of damask silk.

Bakcground

The technique has a long history in Japan, where it was used to decorate katana fittings, particularly tsuba. Known as zougan(象嵌) in Japanese, it has developed its own subset of terms to describe the particular patterns, although “shippou-zougan” is an enamelling technique which most Westerners would consider closer to champlevé.

Damascened-inlay jewelry, especially of Japanese origin, is sometimes referred to as shakudo from the use of that alloy as the dark background.

The technique of niello is also famously attested in prehistoric Greece. The earliest occurrence of damascening in the Aegean, from the Shaft Graves of Mycenae, dates to the latest Middle Bronze Age/Middle Helladic IIIB period (dagger Nu-304). Ultimately of Near Eastern provenance, the technique of inlaying silver/gold was adapted to suit Aegean taste and style.

Cities that are known for a rich history in Damascening where the technique is still practiced are Malaysia, Indonesia, Toledo, Spain, Eibar, Basque Country and Kyoto, Japan.

Damascene in Toledo

Damascene ware — damasquinado or damasquino, in Spanish — is the art of decorating steel with threads of gold and silver. Toledo developed a very important industry around this craft, also known as Toledo Gold. The art of damascene passed from generation to generation within the same family for centuries, and became a hallmark of this beautiful city. Toledo supplies many shops in Spain, where the damascene pieces are sold as souvenirs.

During the last few decades the production of damascene has moved away from a purely handmade process, and many machine-made damascened items — some made not of blackened steel, but of cheap tin — have flooded the market. Some of these reproductions are “so expertly produced that even knowledgeable Toledeans admit the difficulty of recognizing them as such.”^[1] However, many shops still offer handcrafted damascened work following the tradition of ancient times, and it is possible to see artisans at work creating these painstaking and time-consuming works of art.

Damascene work has kept to traditional designs with few changes over the years, but there are a few artists who design innovative pieces of jewelry, which are sold in some of the shops of the city (not in all). Nowadays you can find also craftsmen who create high quality pieces, commissioned by private customers or collectors.

For many years the damascene style of jewelry in Toledo was relatively unknown even to the citizens of Toledo, because the craft shops are located in the historic center of the city, a tourist area quite remote from the daily life of the residents of the city.

The movement for damascene style renewal comes from the descendants of ancient craftsmen, who innovate with youthful designs. The two pendants shown at left in gold and silver, one with Swarovski crystals, are examples of the newer handmade style.

I was honored with the possibility of guiding David Coronel and his wife across the Jewish Quarter of Segovia where his ancestor, Abraham Seneor, was originally.

To know more about Abraham Seneor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Senior

Certainly it was a very interesting day. Last week visiting Segovia with a descendant of Abraham Seneor.

This week Reuven Gutman and his wife were visiting Cordoba. She is a Rambam descendant and she felt ‘at home’ during the visit.

http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/shalom/shalom-shavuot-poder-transmision/4607521/

Pinhas Zahavi has mission: Take Neymar to Real Madrid CF. The agent who took the Brazilian to Barcelona for 222 million will be the key to the “Real Madrid operation”. His art is to cool the feelings linked to football that presidents and soccer players have to put them aside and achieve important transfers without the resquemor of the colors and the social consequences of any relevant operation on a world scale. “If you do not take away the human attachments to football there would be no transfers.” He is a sports journalist and this profession, ours, allowed him to know all the ins and outs of football, to feel the beats of leaders, coaches and players from Europe and South America to know how to approach those who decide and those who succeed with the ball to become agent of many players and make them ascend to the highest levels. His name is Pinhas Zahavi, he has the nickname of Pini and he is the key man so that Neymar fulfills the goal of reaching Real Madrid. A Jew, a native of the small Israeli town of Ness Ziona, man of the world, Zahavi stopped exercising sports journalism in 1988, when he was 45 years old, to dedicate himself exclusively to representation.

His relationship with the first level football began in 1979, After several medium-sized transfers, his jump to the first division of the agents occurred in 1990, when he transferred his compatriot Rosenthal, who played in the Liege Standard, to Liverpool. Kenny Dalglish was the manager of Liverpool. He opened a vein for which he got the contacts of Souness, Alex Ferguson, Ron Atkinson and Terry Venables. His “discovery” of Rio Ferdinand, who in 2000 played at West Ham, took him to the top. He transferred it to Leeds for 23 million euros. Two years later, he placed Ferdinand at Manchester United for 36 million. Now, his mission is to bring Neymar to Real Madrid after getting his signing for PSG a year ago, from Barcelona. It is the most difficult challenge for the Israeli.
Last year, Al-Khelaifi told him that he wanted to hire Neymar. He was annoyed by the shapes of Barcelona, ​​which had persistently tempted Verratti without going through the office of the president of the Parisian club. He convinced the father of the Brazilian and the star. The clause had to be paid, 222 million. It was paid. Now he is in permanent contact with dad Neymar as executive arm to achieve his transfer to Real Madrid.
Your goal is complicated. It must expose the sheikh that the figure wants to leave. It is the starting point. Real Madrid is the chosen destination. Pinhas Zahavi must convince Nasser Al-Khelaifi that “this is just business”, that he does not apply the sentiments to the business, and that he admits the situation so that he puts a price on the striker. To accept that the soccer player and his family are not comfortable in the PSG and want to leave. It is Neymar who has taken the step forward. Zahavi must explain to Nasser Al-Khelaifi that he can not be intransigent. Who will sign other players, but must give free rein to the South American and open the escrow. It is your goal. Bring coldness to the situation and tell him that without Neymar the world is not over, nor the PSG. If someone can reach this agreement, it is Zahavi.

 

 

http://atlantajewishtimes.timesofisrael.com/from-poetry-in-toledo-to-pugilism-in-london/