Cloisonné

Having been ordered to return with copious amounts of Cloisonné goodies for both Mother’s Day and all around souvenir gifts, urged me to dig into what it actually was. Since we are going to be visiting the Cloisonné factory, I thought others might want to know what goes into these delicate designs.

This idea of inlaying colorful materials onto a metal base actually began in Egypt in 1800 B.C. by soldering wire to create cavities. It continued on through the centuries; the Greeks used powdered glass to color their works.

Cloisonne as a Chinese art form originated in Beijing during the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368). The bright blue color, a favorite in the Orient, was created during the reign emperor of the ‘Jingtai’ period of the Ming dynasty. This blue came to be known as ‘Jingtai Blue’ or 'The Blue of Jingtai.' The process evolved over the centuries creating a wider range of colors, more intricate designs, and a furthering of what was made as cloisonné.

The process of making cloisonné consists of adhering a pattern of metal wire to a metal (usually bronze but can also be brass) surface, whether that be a vase, bead, snuff box, or jewelry. There are two methods of bonding the wire design to the metal base. Either gluing the design of wire to the product and then firing the piece to bond the metal together (the glue is evaporated in the firing process) or soldering the form to the base (this seems to be more common). The wire design results in cellular spaces, called cloisons (French for “partitions” or “compartments”), these cloisons are then filled with an enamel paste made from crushed glass or other pigments. The enamel is dried then fired in an oven to melt it to the metal. Since the enamel may shrink from firing, this process may be repeated as needed to achieve a desired result. The whole piece is then ground down and polished to desired smoothness. The metal of the cloisons is then covered with gold by electroplating.

The end product was so desirable that the Japanese soon adopted it and China has become the standard by which cloisonné is judged worldwide. Anyway, I found the whole thing interesting especially since all the women of my family have been making requests for it. I feel like a cloisonné mule, providing bootlegged art for the masses.