Cloisonne tea set
By admin on 2014-12-26

Cloisonne is a kind of traditional Chinese handicraft art. A cloisonne article is made with a floral pattern or other design on the ground of a copper vase or any other article by applying color enamel in the tiny sockets created by a filigree pattern inland on the copper base.

Cloisonne should be considered partially introduced from abroad, for the handicraft art of using enamel was first introduced into China from Persia late in the 14th century. Chinese handicraft masters developed filigree patterns inlaid on the base of copper of articles and filled with color enamel to creat cloisonne. In the early days, blue was the dominating color in cloisonnes articles. Now cloisonne articles are in all colors as a result of the development of the technological processes.

Cloisonne bottle

Cloisonne articles used to be owend exclusively by the imperial families and feudal lords as symbols of power and wealth. The most luxurious cloisonne articles were made entiely in gold base and gold filigree. Some of gold cloisonne articles of the Qing Palace are now on display in the Beijing Palace museum and the Summer Palace, open to sightseers.

Cloisonne tea set

Today cloisonne as a handicraft art is still made manually. Cloisonne articles are no longer the monopoly of the imperial palace, but are available to ordinary people.