Design and Fabrication of Filigree Bust of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah

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2013-12-18
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Abstract
Filigree making involves curling, twisting, plaiting fine pliable thread of precious metals and arranging them in a particular design and fixing them by soldering. Items that are normally made in filigree appear delicate and their designs intricate. The complex weaves and twists of the fragile metal work of filigree introduce space in what would otherwise be opaque object. This aspect of filigree limits the kind of items that one can produce using the technique. To overcome this limitation and expand the spectrum of artefacts that this technique can be used for, the researcher designed and fabricated bust of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Republic of Ghana using this ancient jewellery technique. The researcher investigated the filigree technique to determine whether or not the confinement of filigree technique to jewellery-scaled designs is arbitrary and therefore could be breached. The results of this study indicate that by selecting the appropriate material and workshop practices, it is possible to produce any jewellery or artefacts using the filigree technique irrespective of the design and size of the object. On the question of whether it is possible to design and fabricate a photorealistic object using the filigree technique, the results of the research indicate that it is possible. The filigree bust (plate 45) of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Ghana’s first president, using filigree technique is the evidence.
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thesis submitted to the Department of Industrial Art, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF FINE ART Faculty of Art, College of Art and Social Sciences March, 2013
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