Cloisonne enamel: master class. Cloisonne enamel technique

The famous Ipatiev Chronicle brings to us a story about the wonderful creations of Russian jewelers who decorated their products with enamel - a composition of a colored vitreous powder, hardened after firing, which made it possible to achieve an extraordinary visual effect. This technology came to Russia from Byzantium, where it appeared in the VI century. Nowadays the old word "enamel" has gone out of circulation, giving way to the currently used term - artistic enamel.

What is decorative enamel?

Before we start talking about what is an art technique called "cloisonne enamel", let us dwell in more detail on the description of this composition used by jewelers and masters of arts and crafts. As mentioned above, enamel is a powder obtained by grinding colored vitreous plates.

Moistened with water and turned into a solid, flexible mass, the composition is applied to the cells made on the surface of the product. The next stage of the work is firing. It is produced either in an oven or a special gas or gasoline burner. Under the influence of high temperature (from 700 to 900 ° C), the vitreous mass hardens and takes its own unique form.

Features of work with enamel

Depending on the composition of the shredded vitreous mass, temperature, and also the duration of roasting, the resulting enamel may have a different degree of transparency or be completely opaque - deaf. This opens up the creative master to the master, as it allows you to achieve a wide variety of effects.

The spectrum of techniques used in works of this kind is very rich, and one of them is cloisonne enamel. Ornaments made with its use are not widely used and are considered elitist. The reason is the complexity of their manufacture and the impossibility of mechanizing the production process. Every thing is a unique author's work. If we also consider that noble metals are often used in work, their high price and low availability becomes understandable.

How to create a cloisonne enamel

First of all, on the gold, silver or Melchior (less often copper or steel) surface, which is the basis of the composition, is engraved, and sometimes the contour of the future drawing is cut through. Then on its edges are soldered metal partitions, the thickness of which rarely exceeds one millimeter. These partitions, which give the name of the described type of enamel technique, form both closed and open cells, which are filled with a liquid and viscous multicolored mass.

After the enamel is hardened during the firing process, the product is polished and polished. This is done in such a way that the surface of the partitions and enamel create a single plane. The technique of cloisonne enamel is considerably complicated by the fact that the material layer undergoes shrinkage and becomes below the septum during firing. As a result, it is necessary to replenish cells and re-burn the product. Depending on a number of technical factors and artistic design of the author, the roasting can be repeated five to hundred times.

Unique products and consumer goods

It should be noted that the inability to influence the processes occurring in the enamel under the influence of high temperatures, causes the originality and uniqueness of each product. Twice to achieve the same effect is almost impossible, therefore, every work performed in this technique is unique.

Cloisonné enamel is not the only enamel technique in arts and crafts. Along with it, the so-called excavation is widely used. From the septa it is distinguished by the fact that the vitreous composition is not filled with cells formed by sealed septa, but specially made grooves, the shape of which corresponds to the lines of the drawing. In modern production of imitation jewelry for this purpose, usually used stamped billets or made by casting. In the same industry in the manufacture of consumer goods is used and imitation of cloisonne enamel.

The effect of window stained glass

Cloisonné enamel has one more variety. It is called stained glass or window enamel. This technique is characterized by the fact that it does not use a metal base. Its name was received because of the fact that the products made on its basis resemble the stained glass windows. They are completely transparent, and light, penetrating through the vitreous mass, creates the illusion of colored stained glass, framed by metal.

The products made in this technique are extraordinarily beautiful. The metal frame, filled with enamel, looks like a thin lace made of gold, silver or copper. It is made by sawing or assembling and subsequent soldering of parts made from twisted wire by a special way. Color enamel, filling the spaces between the partitions, creates an indescribable play of light.

Traditions of Chinese enamel

In the history of decorative and applied art, the Chinese enamel occupies a special place. Cloisonne enamel, called clausen, was not the invention of the Chinese themselves, but came to them from France, but it was given a peculiar development, conditioned by local national traditions. From its original source, it inherited mainly the name originating from the mutilated French word Cloison - "septum". Before the appearance of this type of enamel technique in China, it used its excavation option.

In the Palace Museum of Beijing in a wide variety of works of arts and crafts are on display, among which the Chinese enamel stands out. The cloisonne enamel is represented, mainly by the products of the 15th century of the period of Xuande and Jintai. This is not accidental, since the period of the Ming dynasty, to which the above-mentioned rulers belonged, is considered the time of the greatest flowering of this area of art. Based on their own technologies, as well as borrowed in Europe, Chinese masters with unusual imagination decorated table and floor vases, cups, candy bars, as well as a variety of lamps.

Artistic enamel from Georgia

The Georgian cloisonne enamel also enjoys special respect among collectors and art lovers. Its earliest known samples date back to the 9th century, and they were manufactured using the same technology used today. The art of Georgia, which distinguishes a peculiar color and inexhaustible energy, embodied many European and Oriental traditions. That is why the cloisonne enamel, which technology has come to these lands from Western Europe, has so nicely blended in it. Here it was not only mastered, but also developed further, thanks to which many masterpieces of the national Georgian school appeared.

Enamel in the past and today

It is known that the masters of cloisonné enamel of the past centuries used to obtain the composition necessary to them other components than their modern followers. One of the old recipes says that for the preparation of enamel, one part of pure quartz sand, one part of boric acid and two parts of lead surrey are required . To make the composition of the desired color, various pigments were used in the form of oxides of cadmium, cobalt or copper.

In the twentieth century, enamel technology went beyond its traditional use and, apart from decorative and applied art, it was applied everywhere, where it is required to create a durable and chemically resistant surface. There were technical enamels. Accordingly, the technology of their preparation has changed.

Cloisonne enamel: master class

At the end of the article we give a detailed story about how to make a panel made in the technique of partition walls. This unique master class will allow everyone to try their hand at creating a work of decorative and applied art.

First of all, you need to take a suitable size and thickness of copper plate and anneal it until the appearance of red, and then cool it in water. This will give the material softness and protect against deformation during further firing of the enamel itself. After that, the plate is wiped and carefully sanded with sandpaper. Do not achieve an ideally smooth surface, as a slight roughness will contribute to a better connection of the metal with the enamel.

From drawing the drawing to installing the partitions

The next step is drawing a drawing on the plate. It can be both your own composition, and transferred from the book with tracing paper and copy paper. To make the image more clear, the plate can be pre-coated with white gouache. When the drawing is marked, it should be scratched with a steel scribe used in plumbing work. After this, the plate is thoroughly washed and again calcined on fire.

For the manufacture of partitions it is recommended to use a copper wire with a diameter of approximately 0.8 millimeters. It is preliminarily passed through rollers or simply flattened with a hammer. The resulting strip is glued to the plate with an edge, exactly repeating the pattern line. For this work, they usually use BF-6 alcohol glue.

Enamel and firing

For the manufacture of panels should be used enamel in the form of a powder mass. On sale are its varieties with the addition of gold or silver particles, which gives the product a more expensive and refined look. The powder is diluted with water and the formed mass fills the spaces between the partitions. For this purpose it is convenient to use a spatula and a brush. It is important that the enamel layer is evenly laid flat on the height of the partitions.

The next stage will require a drying oven. In it, the product is dried at a temperature of 60 ° C until water completely evaporates from the enamel mixture. At the end of this process, the plate on the base of heat-resistant steel is placed in a muffle furnace and fired. If it is possible to adjust the temperature in the oven, then it is desirable to bring it to 850 ° C, if not, the heating should continue until the surface of the product becomes glossy.

The final stage of work

After making sure that the firing is completed, the plate is removed from the oven with the help of long forceps and, placing it on a metal surface, is pressed from above with a flat and even weight, the weight of which must be at least ten kilograms. In this form, the product cools. Then the cargo is removed and the nail file is made to clean the irregularities and remove the scale.

Cloisonne enamel - the technique is not easy, and from the first time the artistic qualities of the product may be unsatisfactory. In this case, you can add the necessary amount of enamel to the cells and repeat the firing, but you can do this no more than four times, as with more quantity this kind of enamel becomes discolored.