Cloisonné facts for kids
Cloisonné, a French word meaning "enclosed", is a metal-working technique. It is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects. The resulting objects can also be called cloisonné.
The decoration is formed by first adding compartments or cells to the metal object. This is done by soldering or sticking silver or gold wires or thin strips placed on edge. These are visible in the finished piece, separating the different compartments.
Coloured enamel is the usual filling for the cells. Cloisonné enamel objects are worked on with enamel powder made into a paste, which then is fired in a kiln. In older times inlays of cut gemstones were often used.
The technique was in ancient times mostly used for jewellery and small fittings for clothes, weapons or similar small objects. They were decorated with geometric or schematic designs, with thick cloison walls. In the Byzantine Empire a technique with thinner wires were developed. This let pictorial images to be made. It was mostly used for religious images and jewellery, and by then always using enamel. By the 14th century this enamel technique had spread to China, where it was soon used for much larger vessels such as bowls and vases. The technique is common in China to the present day. Cloisonné enamel objects using Chinese-derived styles were produced in the West from the 18th century.
The earliest surviving cloisonné pieces are rings in graves from 12th century BC Cyprus, using very thin wire.
Images for kids
-
Pectoral of Senusret II, from his daughter's grave, using shaped stones rather than enamel. Cloisonné inlays on gold of carnelian, feldspar, garnet, turquoise, lapis lazuli, 1880s BC
-
Plaque from the 10th-century Cross of Otto and Mathilde in Vollschmelz cloisonné enamel on gold
-
French 16th-century mirror-back, with cloisonné/plique-à-jour backed onto glass or rock crystal
-
An 18th-century Chinese wine pot with cloisonné enamel and gilt bronze; the design was loosely based on Zhou Dynasty inlaid bronzes of the 5th–4th centuries BC
-
Kyoto cloisonné enamel censer by Namikawa Yasuyuki (1845–1927)
-
Production process of an enamel vase by Ando Cloisonné Company in Nagoya
-
Owari Cloisonne Enamel Octagon by Takemasa Tamura
-
Khalili Imperial Garniture. Made in Japan during the Meiji period, it was the largest cloisonné enamel in history at the time and was exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893.
-
Tea caddy, silver gilt, opaque raised cloisonné enamel, House of Fabergé, Russia, before 1896
-
Adding cloisons according to the pattern previously transferred to the workpiece
-
Adding frit with dropper after sintering cloisons. Upon completion the piece will be fired, then ground (repeating as necessary) then polished and electroplated
-
The Dorestad Brooch, c. 800, found in the Netherlands. Gold, pearls, with cloisonné almandine, enamel, and glass.
-
Visigothic 6th-century eagle-fibula, from Spain with garnets, amethysts, and colored glass, and some cloisons now empty.
-
Plaque with Saint Peter showing the unique transitional technique of the Holy Crown of Hungary (see text)
-
Chinese shrine for a Bodhisattva, 1736–1795. Shrine: Cloisonné enamel on copper alloy; Figure is copper with gems
-
Qing dynasty cloisonné dish
-
Chinese enameled and gilt candlestick from the 18th or 19th century, Qing dynasty
-
Matching Pair of Cloisonné Vases, c. 1800–1894, from the Oxford College Archives of Emory University
-
Kyoto Cloisonne Enamel, by Namikawa Yasuyuki (1845–1927)
-
Tokyo Cloisonne Enamel, Shōtai Shippō by Namikawa Sōsuke (c. 1900), translucent plique-a-jour enamel on silver.
-
Pair of Two-fold Screens 1900–1905, Nagoya, Japan
-
Ando Cloisonné Company, (c. 1910)
-
Harley-Davidson "100th Anniversary" fuel tank "cloisonné" on a 2003 Dyna Low Rider
-
Modern cloisonné enamel beads
-
Cloisonné artwork of Korea (namjung cloisonné)
-
Detail showing pattern and partially completed cloisons
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
See also
In Spanish: Esmalte alveolado para niños
