ETYM Pref. en- + amel. Related to Amel, Smelt.
Vitrified (glasslike) coating of various colors used for decorative purposes on a metallic or porcelain surface. In cloisonné the various sections of the design are separated by thin metal wires or strips. In champlevé the enamel is poured into engraved cavities in the metal surface.
The ancient art of enameling is believed to be of Near Eastern origin. Examples of Cloisonné enamel have been found in a Mycenaean tomb in Cyprus of the 13th century BC. The champlevé technique was used by Celtic craftsmen of the pre-Christian era. Enamels were made in the northern provinces of the Roman Empire and reappear in the 6th century AD in Anglo-Saxon England. A great revival of cloisonné enamel began in Constantinople in the 10th century; a great masterpiece of this Byzantine enamel is the Pala d’Oro in St Mark’s, Venice. During the Middle Ages the demand for church ornaments, decorated reliquaries, crosses, etc, encouraged a number of technical developments. The Rhine and Meuse valleys, Limoges in France and N Spain were centers of a new style of champlevé enamel from the 12th century. In the 15th century, in N Italy and at Limoges, painted enamels were first made, applied by brush, spatula, or point, over a design scratched in outline on the baseplate. Masters of this form of art were Nardon and J.
Ean Penicaud, Pierre Raymond, and Leonard Limousin. A later development in the 17th century was the minature painted enamel, in which the colors were applied after the enamel was fired and fused, as practiced by the Toutin family in Paris. In England, Stubbs produced enamel paintings.
1. A colored glassy compound (opaque or partially opaque) that is fused to the surface of metal or glass or pottery for decoration or protection.
2. A paint that dries to a hard glossy finish.
3. Any smooth glossy coating that resembles ceramic glaze.
4. Hard white substance covering the crown of a tooth; SYN. tooth enamel. + prikaži više