It is thought the technique was brought to China from Constantinople by the Mongols or Arabs in the 13th century.
Cloisonné is the French name for `partition', and the term refers to the compartments formed by thin metal strips filled with coloured pulverised enamel. The strips outline the design and are fixed to a base of silver, gold or copper. When the piece is heated the enamels fuse with the metal and are then ground to form a smooth coloured surface.
Cloisonné Manufacturing
During the Ming (1368-1644) and early Qing dynasties (c17th century) cloisonné work was very fine: slow and complicated in its manufacture, it was thus highly regarded by the imperial court, high officials and the literati. The Qianlong emperor (r1736-1795) encouraged the development of cloisonné, and vases which copied the shapes of archaic bronzes, ritual vessels and statues used in temples, incense burners, candle sticks, and bowls. Since the emperor was very fond of clocks, after the Jesuits had introduced them to the court, even European style clocks were made of it. Snuff bottles which the wealthy carried and opium boxes made of cloisonné are still found in antique shops and markets in China.
Enamelware
The Kangxi emperor (r1662-1722) introduced the new craft of painting in enamels on metal to the Palace workshops. A bronze, copper or occasionally silver body was coated with a white enamel and after firing the decoration was painted with coloured glazes before being fired again. Dishes, ewers, snuff bottles and vases were made in abundance. This technique later spread to other centres, particularly Guangzhou in South China, for centuries known to the west as Canton.
Canton was the only port in China where the western traders were allowed to meet their Chinese counterparts in order to buy tea, porcelain and silk to export to the west. Here in small lanes between the factories by the Pearl River, where the traders lived and worked, artisans produced enamelware for the overseas market.
Consequently this 'Canton' enamelware has a definite western look, as seen in the shapes of tea pots, wine ewers, tea caddies and bowls. The decoration included western people and landscapes; some Chinese snuff bottles also adopted these European scenes.
Further reading on cloisonné:
- Helmut Brinker & Albert Lutz, The Pierre Uldry Collection, pub. The Asia Society Galleries, USA, 1989.
- Cloisonné: Chinese Enamels from the Ming and Qing Dynasties by B. Quette, Yale University Press, Sept 2010.
Further reading on enamels:
- Michael Gillingham, Chinese Painted Enamels, pub. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1978.
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