Ever since I was a young child, I have had a passion for history. Is was and continues to be my favorite subject. Yet, one particular battle, a particularly epic siege in history resonated and peaked my interest over and over again. That Siege was the Siege of Malta, and even Voltaire said "Nothing is better known than the siege of Malta." Well that may have been more true in 1565 than in the 21st century, that heroic victory of an outnumbered force made me fall in love with the tenacity and spirit of the Maltese people and the Knights of St. John that ruled over them. In short, my combined admiration for the county's valor and history, and my desire to travel outside the United States, created an opportunity to visit the beautiful Mediterranean country in May to June of 2015. I was awarded a Magellan Project Award, a creation of Washington & Jefferson College that allows students to propose completely independent research projects to anywhere in the world and awards monetary grants based off of the merit of the proposal. With this award, I spent three weeks in Valletta and Sliema, Malta, admiring the forts, admiring their unique language and culture, and their iconic jewelry technique of silver filigree. After visiting multiple silversmith shops and local jewelers, I met a family who had made silver filigree jewelry like no other, a father and son team whose passion for their craft literally exuded from their person, and whose walls were covered by the thousands of postcards sent to them from across the world by their elated customers. These two men, Matthew and Maurice Borg left an impression on me with their art, and because nine of ten people I told about my upcoming trip to Malta responded to me with puzzled expression and the question of "Malta, never heard of it. Where is that?", I decided that it was my duty (and entrepreneurial venture) to bring their amazing, one-of-a-kind art back to the States. My vision is for the art of Malta to be appreciated in the United States, and those that do not even know where Malta is on a map will be able to say, this Maltese filigree is the most beautiful silver jewelry I have ever seen.
