Notes

Japanese cloisonne of the Meiji period was unrivaled in quality and finesse of detail. Cloisonné is essentially made by taking a base object, such as a copper vase and laying on it a design made up of small cells (called cloisons) constructed from thin wires. Some of these cells are then filled with powdered glass of a particular colour and the object fired so that the glass melts to fill the cell. The process is repeated using different colours in other cells (as each colour fires at a different temperature) until the item is completely enamelled with a multicolour design. Finally the enamel, which at this stage will be dull and lumpy, is polished to give a superb porcelain finish.