Corbula jewelry and its meaning | News | RR Orafi in Sassari

May 2022 11

Corbula jewelry and its meaning

  • Curiosities
The corbula jewels are among the most known and appreciated of the island, simple but refined, able to enrapture the eye with their brilliant spirals. A contemporary jewel that tells ancient history, with its meaning intrinsically linked to the precious figure of the woman.

The Sardinian corbula jewels are made with the technique of spiral filigree, already widely used in traditional jewelry such as the Sardinian button. These jewels are made starting from a base of spiral filigree, on which are then placed various types of decorative elements such as floral motifs, granules and bezels for precious stones.

Thanks to a cleaning and simplification, as well as a modernization of the traditional design, the technique of spiral filigree becomes the real protagonist of the jewel, abandoning its role of simple background. Leaving the filigree disks free from decorations, therefore without applying other elements, a spiral design is discovered that deeply recalls "sa corbula", the traditional Sardinian basket. Precisely because of this recall, the artifacts have inherited the name of corbula jewelry and its symbolic meaning.

The meaning of Sardinian corbula jewels is linked to the basket: the spiral shape is a dedication to the female figure that contains and generates life, protects and nourishes, it is a symbol of good luck, a call to prosperity. Spirals are in fact a very recurrent element in traditional Sardinian shapes and figures, from corbula jewelry to baskets and embroidery.

Women themselves have kept and handed down the secrets of weaving, true artisan-artists who created in their homes the beautiful baskets with various combinations of colors and patterns, often embroidered with inserts of floral brocade. Thus, in addition to the original function of transport and measurement, the corbule became an artistic creation to hang on the walls to decorate the house. A decorative use that is still preserved today.

The simplicity and elegance of the spiral filigree allowed us to design and create various corbula jewels, the protagonists of the Spirali Line.