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Cloisonné
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Ming vase Figure 178: Pala d'Oro, altar screen of gold cloisonne enamel, Byzantine, 10th-12th century, reassembled with later additions in a Gothic frame in 1342-45. In St. Mark's Cathedral, Venice. Tƍdai Temple: mirror back
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Ming vase
Ming vase Vase, cloisonnĂ© enamel on copper alloy, from China, Ming dynasty, 1368–1644; in the Brooklyn Museum, New York.

Cloisonné

enamelware
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‱History

CloisonnĂ©, in the decorative arts, an enameling technique or any product of that technique, which consists of soldering to a metal surface delicate metal strips bent to the outline of a design and filling the resulting cellular spaces, called cloisons (French: “partitions” or “compartments”), with vitreous enamel paste. The object then is fired, ground smooth, and polished. Sometimes metal wire is used in place of the usual gold, brass, silver, or copper strips.

Among the earliest examples of cloisonnĂ© are six Mycenaean rings of the 13th century bce. The great Western period of cloisonnĂ© enameling was from the 10th to the 12th century, especially in the Byzantine Empire. In China cloisonnĂ© was widely produced during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911/12) dynasties. In Japan it was especially popular during the Tokugawa (1603–1868) and Meiji (1868–1912) periods.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Virginia Gorlinski.