Cloisonné and Cloisonné Making

Cloisonné is one of the most famous arts and crafts in Beijing. It is a kind of traditional handicraft of enamelware created more than 500 years ago during the Emperor Xuan De’s reign (1426-1435) in the Ming Dynasty. Later this kind of enamelware is known as “Jingtai Blue” in Chinese. It was so called because the color blue is the most frequently used color for enameling. Jingtai actually is the name of the 7th Emperor in the Ming Dynasty. Enamelware became very popular during this emperor’s reign (1450-1456). Cloisonné is so beautiful for its elegant molding, brilliant and dazzling color, and splendid and graceful design. There is a great variety of cloisonné products, such as vases, jars, bowls, boxes, plates, ashtrays and even some bracelets, necklaces, earrings and chopsticks...... all made of cloisonné. It is really a beautiful and magnificent handicraft art in Beijing. The cloisonné-making requires rather complicated processes. The skill and the workmanship of cloisonné-making have been handed down from the Ming Dynasty. Usually it contains seven steps:

(1)    Body Making

Copper is the materials used for making the body. Because copper is very flexible and can be easily hammered to the shape of the products, like the vases, jars, bowls, plates, ashtrays etc.

(2)    Copper wire Cutting

Long copper-wire with several layers struck tighter formed special copper filigree for one of the process of making cloisonné. According to the drawing, the craftsman cuts the copper wire and twist it into different shapes. So the flat copper wire is then fixed in certain patterns.

(3)    Copper wire Inlay

The craftsmen solder the patterned copper wire onto the body with special glue as to make up a complicated but beautiful complete pattern on the body.

(4)    Enamel Filling

In this workshop you can see some plates containing different colored materials placed in front of the workers. The colored materials or enamel is a kind of mineral with rich colors. It is ground in to tiny powder mixed in water and contained in different plates. The workers put the different tinny powder of various colors into the little compartments separated by the copper wires. By doing this, you can see a formed colorful pattern on the copper body with enamel fillings.

(5)    (5)Enamel Firing

The copper body with enamel fillings will be put into the oven where the temperature is about 900°C(1650°F). After firing, the colored enamel in the little compartments will sink down a bit. That requires a repeated filling for several times (at least three times) until the little compartments are finally filled up.

(6)    Polishing

There are three steps to polish the unfinished products. The first step is done by machine polishing so as to make the copper wire and the fillings in the little compartments even. And then again the products are put to fire. After that the products need to be polished once more with a whetstone. At last a piece of hard carbon is used to polish the product again to make the product luster and smoothness on the surface.

(7)      (7)Gilding

The last process is done by placing the product in fluid of gold or silver, charged with electric current. The exposed parts of the copper wire and the metal fringes on the product will be smoothly and evenly gilded so that the metal part of the product will not get rusty. Finally, the product will again undergo another electroplating and then a slight polishing will be the final touch to the product. The finished product is done! The product looks very splendid after all these processes. Chinese cloisonné was offered first prize at the Chicago World Fair in 1904, and the Panama International Fair in 1915 respectively.