Vintage Chinese Cloisonne Necklace with Silver Clasp. 

Size: 10 1/2 in. 

#7111 . 

Cloisonné is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with colored material held in place or separated by metal strips or wire, normally of gold. In recent centuries, vitreous enamel has been used, but inlays of cut gemstones, glass and other materials were also used during older periods. The decoration is formed by first adding compartments (“cloisons” in French) to the metal object by soldering or affixing silver or gold as wires or thin strips placed on their edges. These remain visible in the finished piece, separating the different compartments of the enamel or inlays, which are often of several colors. Cloisonné enamel objects are worked on with enamel powder made into a paste, which then needs to be fired in a kiln. If gemstones or colored glass are used, the pieces need to be cut or ground into the shape of each cloison. In antiquity, the cloisonné technique was mostly used for jewelry and small fittings for clothes, weapons or similar small objects decorated with geometric or schematic designs. Excavations of Mesopotamia discovered the technique was used to hold pieces of stone and gems on breastplates tightly in place since at least the 3rd Millennium BC. Enamel likely developed as a cheaper method of achieving similar results within a few hundred years. The Byzantine Empire (306-1453 AD) perfected a unique form of cloisonné icons, with exceptionally thin wires and a mixture of glass and enamel creating heavily ornate, sparkling imagery on many surfaces. By the 14th Century this enamel technique had been replaced in Europe by champlevé but had also spread to China, where it soon became the dominant method used for coloring much larger vessels like bowls and vases. The Fall of Constantinople drove many artisans into Eurasia, and the technique also found roots in Russia and Japan, although it is now considered an archaic form in both cultures. The technique remains common in China to the present day, however, and cloisonné enamel objects using Chinese-derived styles have been produced in the West from the 18th Century onward.