Cloisonne

Cloisonne, with a history dating back over 500 years, is well-known traditional enamelware. It is typically called the "Blue of Jingtai" as blue is the dominant color adopted for enameling and Cloisonne became prevalent during the reign of Jingtai (1450-1456) in the Ming Dynasty. Owing to its brilliant colors and splendid designs, Cloisonne has been highly appraised both in China and abroad.

The making of Cloisonne involves quite elaborate and complicated process, usually seven steps should be taken.

The first step is frame making. Copper is the usual material for making the frame, because copper is very flexible and can easily be hammered to the shape to the likings of the craftsman. And copper is durable material for a frame. What is important in this step is that the coppersmith needs to make a well-shaped frame with even weight and thickness