Filigree in the context of Metalwork

The Shrine of Saint Lachtin's Arm (known in Irish as Lámh Lachtaín) is an early 10th-century Irish arm-shrine type reliquary made of wood and metal shaped as an outstretched forearm and clenched fist. St. Lachtin's dates to between 1118 and 1121 and is associated with his church in the village of Stuake, Donoughmore, County Cork, but probably originates from Kilnamartyra, also in Cork. It consists of a yew-wood core lined with decorated bronze and silver plates. The wood at the hand is hollowed out to create a reliquary cavity which once held the arm bone of St. Lachtin (b. 526, County Cork) but is now empty. The circular cap at its base contains a large transparent gemstone and is inlayed with silver decorated with filigree.

The shrine is 39 cm high, 7 cm wide and 7 cm deep. Because the hand is clenched rather than, as is more usual for arm shrines, open as if in the act of blessing, it may have functioned as battle standard or talisman to protect or heal combatants. Saint Lachtin's Arm was rediscovered by antiquarians c. 1750, having been in the care of its hereditary keepers, the Healy family, for around 200 years. It was acquired that year from Donoughmore Church by the art collector Andrew Fountaine. Thereafter, it passed through various private and public collections and has been in the collection of the archaeology branch of the National Museum of Ireland (NMI), Dublin, since 1890.

The Tara Brooch is an Irish Celtic brooch, dated to the late 7th or early 8th century. It is of the pseudo-penannular type (with a fully closed head or hoop), and made from bronze, silver and gold. Its head consists of an intricately decorated circular ring, and overall, its front and reverse sides are equally decorated; each holds around 50 inserted cast panels packed with filigree. The brooch was constructed from numerous individually made pieces; all of the borders and terminals contain multiple panels holding multi-coloured studs, interlace patterns, filigree, and Celtic spirals. It is widely considered the most complex and ornate of its kind, and would have been commissioned as a fastener for the cloak of a high-ranking cleric or as ceremonial insignia of high office for a High King of Ireland.

The Tara Brooch was hidden on the east coast of Ireland sometime during the 11th or 12th century, most likely to protect it from Viking or Norman invaders. It was rediscovered around 1850, but the exact find-spot and circumstances are unclear. Despite its title, it was not found at the Hill of Tara but on or near the beach around Bettystown on the coast of County Meath. The name by which it became known was chosen by its first commercial owner, the Dublin-based jeweller George Waterhouse, as a marketing ploy for selling copies during the height of the 19th century Celtic Revival. For this reason, many art historians describe it with inverted commas as the "Tara" brooch.

A riza (Russian: риза, "vestment," "robe"; Ukrainian: шати, shaty, "vestments") or oklad (оклад, "cover"), sometimes called a "revetment" in English, is a thin metal cover protecting an icon. It is usually made of gilt or silvered metal with repoussé work and is pierced to expose elements of the underlying painting. It is sometimes enameled, filigreed, or set with artificial, semi-precious or even precious stones and pearls. Although the practice of using rizas originated in Byzantine art, the Russian term is often applied to Greek icons; in Greek, the term is επένδυση (romanized: ependysi, "coating"). Icons are described as επάργυρες or επίχρυσες: silver-covered and gold-covered, respectively.

In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the purpose of a riza is to honor and venerate an icon, and ultimately the figure depicted on it, such as Jesus Christ or a saint. Because candles and lampadas (oil lamps) are burned in front of icons, and incense is used during services, icons can become darkened over time. The riza helps protect the icon. Rizas are often placed over highly-venerated icons, such as the Panagia Ierosolymitissa icon in Jerusalem.