About Enamel

Enamel (not to be confused with enamel paint) is a thin vitreous coating made by high-temperature treatment. Russian cloisonné and champlevé enamels are mentioned for the first time in the Ipatiev Chronicle of 1175. At the time, all types of enamels for art were called finift in Russian, and only later, in the 19th century the old name was replaced with the term “enamel”. Enamel is powdered glass obtained by crushing glass plates to the desired particle size. Powdered enamel is damped to the desired consistency and applied to the cells. The work is then fired in a furnace. Different types and colors of enamel require different firing temperature from 700 to 900°C. After firing, enamel powder is fused into a colorful vitreous layer which can be transparent or opaque depending on the enamel type. After firing, enamel shrinks: if a cell is filled to the brim, the resulting layer will be below the barrier, so complete filling of a cell requires repeated firing and application of enamel to the cell. Depending on the complexity of composition and the desired result, one work can go through five to a hundred firings. An artist cannot interfere with the firing process but can adjust the firing time and temperature based on their experience and intuition. This is what makes every enamel work unique. In the last decades of the 20th century, enameling technique went beyond its traditional applications. Enameling combines many different techniques and methods of metal and enamel processing which produce a variety of solutions, both for decor and art. Jewelry enamel is low-melting transparent or opaque glass which can be applied to copper, silver, gold or, sometimes, aluminum at a temperature of 500 to 800°C.

Champlevé is a relatively simple technique. The baseplate is engraved, coined, or cut to make grooves which are then filled with enamel of different colors. The Jewelry industry uses stamped or cast blanks. Fig. 1

Cloisonné is a complicated technique that requires a lot of effort and cannot be mechanized. A thin metal plate (copper, gold or, sometimes, silver, nickel silver, or high-grade steel) is scratched, engraved, or cut to apply a sketch of the future image. Then metal wires are fused along this contour to form barriers. Such wires can have different thickness depending of the idea but rarely exceed one millimeter. They can form closed and open cells of various shapes and sizes. Every cell is filled with enamel to the upper edge, then the article is fired. Fig. 2.

Next, the enamel is polished and finished so that it is the same height as the wires. Complete filling of cells with enamel (without recesses) is a distinct feature of the cloisonné technique. The resulting multi-colored image resembles gemstone inlay jewelry.

Plique-à-jour is a type of cloisonné enamel, the only difference is that it lacks a metal base plate. The resulting transparent colored enamel in metal cells resembles a metal-framed stained-glass window. Fig. 3.

A holed metal form made by cutting metal or fusing twisted wire is filled with enamel. Such metal forms can be made of gold, silver, or copper. Gaps between the barriers are filled with transparent colored enamel.

Plique-à-jour articles are fired after every enamel layer.

Enamel painting has a lot in common with oil painting. A protective layer of enamel is applied to a base plate and is then painted with enamel paints. A colorless transparent fondant forms a shiny coating on the metal after firing. Fig. 4.

Today, it is assumed that enamel art has a long history of over three thousand years. The oldest known objects with glass fused to metal for artistic purposes were found at Mycenae and on Cyprus (15-14th century BCE). In the 7th century BCE, the art of glass fusing to metal starts to develop in the territory of Azerbaijan, Greece, northern Italy. A more recent technique, cloisonné, was apparently an alternative to inlaying of gems and colored smalt into metal. In 2000 BCE, this technique is already well developed in Ancient Egypt. Artisans set gold barriers on a gold plate and fill the gaps with colored inserts. Pieces of lapis lazuli, malachite, coral, turquoise, smalt, stained glass are shaped to fill the cells and then fixed using a special compound.

Despite this fact, genuine enamel appears in Egypt as late as in the Graeco-Roman period. However, it is Egyptians who establish the artistic principles of stone and enamel metal finishing that remain relevant even today. In the 5th century BCE, champlevé enamel on bronze becomes popular in the Celtic tribes of France and Britain. Opaque glass of saturated colors is fused to special cells on the surface of cast metal. The Celts pass this technique to the Romans, but it does not gain widespread use among them.

At the same time, enamel art is developing in Asia: Persia, India, China. Chinese (Beijing) cloisonné enamel becomes a unique and original technique; Chinese enamel traditions has lived to this day.

Egyptian and Middle Eastern art has a great influence on the culture of the Byzantine Empire, the next center of enamel art. Byzantine cloisonné enamels are considered classic. For the first time, enamel is used not to imitate stones but, rather, as an independent tool. The rise of the Byzantine enamel art happens in the 12th century CE.

Byzantine practices have a dramatic impact on the development of medieval European enamel techniques. From Byzantine, enamel art spreads to the neighboring countries: Georgia, Armenia, Serbia, Kievan Rus’ — authentic enameling schools are founded in each of these countries.

The most famous European enameling centers are situated in Limoges, France, at the monasteries on the Rhine and in Lorraine. In the mid-12th century, Limoges becomes the leading center of church plate production which uses different types of cloisonné and champlevé enameling. A new technique of applying transparent colored enamel to embossed metal appears. Different thickness of enamel coating due to surface irregularities creates a kind of a play of light and shadow. Later, in the 15th-17th centuries, Limoges becomes the leading center of a new authentic technique — grisaille paintings. For more information in this technique, read the chapter Painted Enamel.

The rapid development of chemistry in the mid-17th century gives birth to metal oxides which, applied to a white enamel base and fired, make it possible to show the subtlest color shades. Now artists can create enamel miniatures where metal (even when it is gold) is only the substrate that is covered with a solid layer.

The 19th century witnesses the emergence of application of technical enamels to steel and cast iron. Household items, such as tableware, fireplaces, and stoves, are covered with enamel to improve their properties.

At the turn of the 20th century, riding the wave of modernist art, enamel experiences a revival. Enamel is now often use for jewelry and decor designs. Thanks to advances in the silicate chemistry, a wide palette of enamels of various shades and properties becomes available.

Russian Enamel. The earliest surviving metal work with enamel decorations dates back to the 10th — early 13th century. In ancient Russia, decorative enamel was called finift (from the Greek fingitis meaning “bring, shiny stone”). As mentioned above, Russian artisans adopted Byzantine cloisonné techniques. The largest enameling centers in Russia were Kiev, Chernihiv, Galich, Vladimir, Ryazan, Novgorod. The surviving specimens of the Russian enamel art of that era are usually kolts, a type of paired female moon-shaped headgear from two joined convex plates. Other discovered articles include diadems made of several interconnected gold plates, ryasnas (paired medallion chains), barmas (breast ornaments consisting of medallions), plaques sewn onto ceremonial dress, sacraria, cross and icon pendants, Gospel book decorations, rizas (icon revetments). Gold and silver were the most common mental used for cloisonné and champlevé enameling, while cast metal enameling (borrowed from Western Europe; Celtic legacy) was practiced using bronze or copper. At that time, enamel was not produced on a large scale. Orders came mainly from princes and their families, church hierarchs, the nobility.

The Mongol invasion in 1237 causes many enameling centers to close; knowledge transfer is interrupted. Many artists are sent to the Golden Horde. Cultural ties with the Byzantine Empire and Western Europe are broken. The period between the mid-13th and mid-15th century witnesses an overall decline of Russian enameling. Recipes for many colors get lost, cloisonné techniques are forgotten. Only champlevé enameling continues to develop. This technique is used mostly for religious articles which are mainly produced in monastery workshops and in Novgorod. Unlike the secular society, monasteries and the Russian Orthodox Church in general, have the charter of immunity from the Golden Horde which protects the artisans from looting and captivity.

In the second half of the 15th century, the Russian enamel tradition experiences a revival. The renewal of cultural ties with the Byzantine Empire allows Russian artists to get acquainted with the best practices of the art schools of the Italian Renaissance. Imports of Western European raw materials expand capabilities. Russian enamellers receive large orders from the royal court. Along with Novgorod, Moscow becomes the largest Russian enameling center; Greek and Western European artisans are invited to the city. At the end of the 15th, a new technique appears — filigree enamel. Over time, filigree enamel becomes a favorite method of enameling and a recognizable symbol of Russian enamels. Russian enamellers also practice basse-taille enameling which is widely spread in Western Europe. The 17th century is considered the bloom of enamel art. A lot of household items are decorated with enamel at the time, including knives, forks, ink pots, cases, etc. Enamel becomes an integral part of church and secular objects.

During the reign of Peter the Great, Russian enamel is greatly influenced by Western culture. The traditional techniques of the past are sidelined by miniature enamel art that appears in the 18th century. By the end of the 18th century, enamel miniatures push the boundaries and become an independent form of art.

The leading Russian enameling centers in the 19th century include Moscow, Rostov, and St. Petersburg. In the mid-19th century, thanks to the increasing public interest in ancient Russian traditions, the Russian enamel art experiences a new rise. A peculiar Russian style is formed as a kind of European historicism. Traditional filigree enamel is rising again as an indispensable element of the Russian style. Enamel art becomes widespread and available to various strata of Russian society. Russian jewelry companies play the key role in enamel democratization. Advances in chemistry and new enamel technologies now allow to manufacture enamel products on an industrial scale, and Russian jewelers shape a wide range of enamel items to cater to the needs of the Russian customer.

The most famous Russian jewelers of the later 19th and early 20th century who extensively use enamel in their works include Ovchinnikov, Faberge, Sazikov, Khlebnikov, Grachev, Nemirov-Kolodkin, Postnikov, Olovyanishnikov, and others. Together with small-scale jewelry workshops and groups, they form a diverse community of enamellers who use various techniques and styles. Thus, two major trends of the Russian enamel art are formed: enamel as a decorative element and enamel as an independent form of art.

After the 1917 revolution, the Russian enamel art is in decline. There are two reasons for that. Firstly, enamel is seen as the art of the ruling class. Secondly, the country is devastated after the civil war. Of all traditional centers of the Russian enamel art, only the Rostov school survives. However, the themes change: religious subjects are replaced with floral painting on white or colored background, which resembles china painting, as well as Soviet symbols and social realism miniature enamel art. Rostov Finift factory gets established on the basis of the Rostov art groups.

The 1970s and 1980s witness a rising tide of interest in the ample opportunities of enamel art among Soviet artists. Soviet enamellers get an opportunity to take part in international workshops and masterclasses in Hungary, the Baltic States, and, later, in other Western European countries.

The International Creative Center Emalis has held international masterclasses on enamel art in Yaroslavl since 1998. Enamellers from Russia, the CIS, and other countries come to take part in these masterclasses a few times a year.

The possibilities of enamel art techniques are far from being exhausted. This technology is thousands of years old, but new discoveries are still not uncommon, and the lost techniques of the past are, too, sometimes recreated.