The History of Chinese Cloisonne
November 28th, 2009
1 comment
The history of “inlaying” colourful enamel materials onto a metal base especial copper, and securing their position with soldered wire dates back to 1800 BC, in Egypt. During the 13th century BC in ancient Greece, colourful powdered glass was used to fill cavities (aka“cells”) made by filigree soldered wire, then fired to produce colourful decorative objects.
The art of Chinese fired-enamelware dates back as far as the Yuan Dynasty (1271 to 1368), but was popularized during the Xuan De period (1426 to 1435). The XuanDe period coincides with the reign of Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu Qiyu, who was also known as the Jingtai Emperor (1449 to 1457).
This is where Cloisonne pins are derived! and the source of current cloisonne pins.