SHORT AND IMPRECISE HISTORY OF EUROPEAN ENAMELING

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EARLIEST ENAMELS:

The earliest enamels we know of come from Cyprus in the 13th c BC. See an article about them here

 

 

 

ROMAN ENAMELS

Enamelling was practiced in both Greece and Rome in ancient times. Though much of the Greek material has been lost, many pieces of Roman enamelling have been found throughout their vast empire. Romans developed many innovations, notably the use of millefiori glass (literally 'thousand flowers') made by melting together rods of different colours and then stretching them to reduce the design)

 

IRON AGE CELTIC

Around the 3rd c BC Celtic metal smiths began filling engraved spaces with glass. This technique was ideal for the bold abstract patterns typical of Iron Age design, adding the important element of colour to ritual objects and beginning a thousand year tradition of European champlevé For more information on this period click here

BYZANTINE

The shift of power from Rome to Constantinople that marked the beginning of the Byzantine era was characterized by a boom in the arts.  Goldsmiths began developing methods of adding colour to their work using glass, melting it directly on to the metal between thin strips of soldered wire. This technique is now called 'cloisonné'. For more information on this period click here 

 

EARLY MEDIEVAL

While Eastern goldsmiths were developing cloisonné, the Western traditions of champlevé were being continued and developed. The aesthetic values of the pagan Anglo Saxon and Viking cultures were carried over into the new religious objects, as these peoples were converted to Christianity. For more information on Viking Art click here. For Anglo-Saxon Art click here

 

MEDIEVAL

The beautiful gold cloisonnés of Byzantium flooded the west after Constantinople was sacked during the 4th Crusade, creating a market for small religious objects. Local craftsmen were inspired and stimulated by these new ideas, but found less expensive and time consuming ways of producing the objects, drawing on their long honed skills in champlevé. For the developement of early medieval enamels see here

 

LATE MEDIEVAL

In the 12th century, during the Romanesque period, important schools of champlevé enamel flourished in Cologne and other German cities on the Rhine River and at Huy and Liège on the Meuse River. Artists working on gilded copper produced book covers, reliquary boxes, crosses, and other ecclesiastical and secular objects. The motifs were usually religious, the style mannered (usually called 'Mosan'), and the colors often green, blue, and white set off by the gold ground. For more on Mosan see here

 

LIMOGES

By the late 12th century, Limoges in France began to replace the Rhenish and Mosan centers of enamel. It continued as a principal center through the Gothic period and the Renaissance into the 17th century. Early Limoges enamel was champlevé influenced by the Rhenish and Mosan styles

 

PAINTED ENAMELS

In the 15th century a tradition of painting developed in the Limoges region and completely eclipsed the champleve styles. See more information here

 

 

 

GRISAILLE

Part of the tradition of painted enamels was a monochrome style and the great Limoges houses of Limousin, Penicaud etc  produced many extraordinary pieces  

 

 

DEVELOPMENT OF LIMOGES

Some of the great limoges houses lasted for three generations - and developed use of transparents and foils and other refinements that elevated their art to its highest level

 

 

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WATCHES AND CLOCKS

 

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