Cloisonne enamel is such a tedious and intricate labor of love. This bunny who has a nearby angel whispering in his ear and a dragonfly on his back. To know how much work goes into a piece like this you have to understand that in Byzantine pieces, the wire by no means always encloses a separate color of enamel. Sometime a wire is used just for decorative effect, stopping in the middle of a field of enamel, and sometimes the boundary between two enamel colors is not marked by a wire. This bunny uses that technique with beautiful designs in his white fur. Cloisonné wire is made from pure silver or gold. It is bent into shapes that define the colored areas. Using fine spatulas, brushes or droppers, the enameler places the fine colored powder into each cloison. The piece is left to dry completely before firing, which is done by putting the article, with its enamel fillings, in a kiln. The enamel in the cloisons will sink down a lot after firing, due to melting and shrinkage of the granular nature of the glass powder, much as sugar melting in an oven. This process is repeated until all cloisons are filled to the top of the wire edge. Th bunny measures about 4" tall. He has pretty green insides to ears with little flowers inside. The soft doe eyes of this delightful creature are very captivating.
No comments:
Post a Comment