Enameling / Champleve

By Marlene Harris Collection

 

European enameling, it is believed, was begun in the 13th century. Europeans practicing this craft were unaware that this artistic presentation had been available in the East, particularly China, long before the birth of Christ.

 

The 16th century marks the perfection of this art form and little has changed in the enameling method since that date. The glass is ground by hand; the powdered glass( the consistency of powdered sugar) is applied to metal using a spatula with meticulous care. Then the glass and metal creation is heated. Previously heated in kilns fired by wood, today's enameling is heated in kilns fueled by electricity; the heating element is generally set at 1400 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature fuses the glass to the metal.

 

Champleve Enameling
This particular form of artistry is a delicate balance of interplay between colors opaque in nature and translucent in color. The depth of color intensifying the design is achieved through multiple firings. Each firing is preceded by hand rubbing and grinding. A variety of enamels have been produced as a result of this process; each is unique.

 

Champleve enameling involves the hand tooling or stamping of a design onto metal. Often the stamped design can be seen on the back of the metal. Wells are created for the enameling (ground glass). The wells are filled one color at a time and fired. This process is continued for each color in the design and often requires repeated/multiple firings for each color. Each firing is followed by hand-polishing. The process is repeated until all spaces are filled. Sometimes the champleve process was used for border designs.

 

Cloisonne
In this, one of the oldest forms of enameling, wells are once again filled. Fine wires were soldered to the metal and a pattern was formed. The wells or cloisonné were usually deeper than the stamped wells of the Champleve process. The process for filling the wells is the same as that of the Champleve as is the polishing technique employed.

 

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