Roberta Ferreira: Rebirthing

Roberta Ferreira: Egyptian paste: “Rebirthing” of an ancient technique for contemporary jewelry

Egyptian paste is a glazed non-clay ceramic material that was first developed more than 7.000 years ago in Egypt to make jewels and small objects. It has been described as “the first high tech ceramic” as it was used as an artificial medium to reconstruct precious stones like turquoise and lapis lazuli. It goes into the kiln as dull and colourless, but comes out brightly coloured and shiny. The Egyptians connected this with the resurrection of the sun from the dead and with the light which was so essential for the deceased in his tomb. The bright green colour was also connected with regeneration.

The study of the jewelry of the Ancient Egypt will be the starting point of the course, to continue with the experimentation of the material, discovering their great potential to implement in our contemporary jewelry projects. 

Dates and price

dates: 31.May - 21.Jun. 2012
total hours: 10
cost: 120 € 

Course content:
Introduction to the material: history, chemical composition
Making the egyptian paste from a formula
Modelling techniques
Firing
Development of individual projects