Cloisonne Vases
Vintage 1910s Chinese Chinese Export Metalwork
Copper
Late 20th Century Chinese Metalwork
Metal
20th Century Chinese Metalwork
Enamel, Metal
Late 20th Century Chinese Chinese Chippendale Chinese and East Asian Rugs
Wool
Mid-20th Century Chinese Beaux Arts Ceramics
Enamel
Mid-20th Century Japanese Metalwork
Metal, Enamel
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Japonisme Ceramics
Enamel
Antique 15th Century and Earlier East Asian Ming Antiquities
Bronze, Enamel
Antique 19th Century Chinese Metalwork
Enamel
Late 20th Century Persian Art Nouveau Persian Rugs
Wool
Antique 19th Century Ceramics
Ceramic
20th Century Chinese Decorative Dishes and Vide-Poche
Bronze
Late 20th Century Chinese Metalwork
Metal, Enamel
Mid-20th Century Chinese Metalwork
Metal, Enamel
Early 20th Century Japanese Metalwork
Enamel, Copper
Antique 19th Century Japanese Metalwork
Metal
Antique Early 1900s Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Gold, Silver, Enamel
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Metalwork
Enamel
Antique 19th Century Chinese Metalwork
Enamel, Brass
Antique 19th Century Japanese Metalwork
Metal, Enamel
Mid-20th Century Japanese Showa Ceramics
Ceramic
Antique 19th Century Chinese Metalwork
Bronze, Copper
20th Century Metalwork
Metal, Enamel
20th Century Japanese Antiquities
Metal
Antique 19th Century Japanese Metalwork
Enamel, Copper
Antique Early 1900s Japanese Anglo-Japanese Metalwork
Enamel
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Enamel, Bronze
Early 20th Century Chinese Metalwork
Brass, Enamel
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Enamel, Copper
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Bronze, Enamel
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Copper, Enamel
Antique 19th Century English Candelabras
Bronze
Antique 19th Century Chinese Metalwork
Bronze, Copper
Antique 1890s Chinese Qing Metalwork
Brass, Enamel
Early 20th Century Chinese Metalwork
Brass, Enamel
Early 20th Century Chinese Metalwork
Bronze
Late 20th Century Japanese Ceramics
Enamel
Mid-20th Century Chinese Metalwork
Copper
20th Century Japanese Japonisme Metalwork
Bronze
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Table Lamps
Enamel
Antique 1880s French Chinese Export Metalwork
Metal
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Metalwork
Metal
Early 20th Century Metalwork
Metal, Enamel
Early 20th Century Chinese Metalwork
Metal, Enamel
Mid-20th Century Chinese Metalwork
Metal, Enamel
Antique 19th Century Japanese Metalwork
Enamel
Antique 19th Century Japanese Metalwork
Enamel
Antique Early 1900s Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Enamel, Wire
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Copper, Enamel
Antique Mid-19th Century Metalwork
Enamel
Vintage 1950s Japanese Ceramics
Metal
Antique 1880s Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Metal
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Enamel, Copper
Antique 19th Century Chinese Metalwork
Copper, Enamel
Antique 19th Century Chinese Chinese Export Metalwork
Copper
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Metalwork
Brass, Enamel
Mid-20th Century Japanese Metalwork
Brass, Enamel
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Antique Cloisonné Vases for Sale on 1stDibs
Liven your home with cloisonné vases, bowls, lamps and other objects and furnishings ornamented with lustrous enamel. Technically, enamel is colored glass fused to metal. But that simple description greatly understates the case.
Applied using an array of techniques to a wide range of objects, enamel is one of the most dynamic, and alluring, mediums in the world. And as ceramic vases and other decorative vessels are gaining popularity again — the personalization of handmade craftsmanship has served as a sort of anti-Internet to screen-weary interior designers — antique cloissonné vases can help introduce interesting colors and patterns to your space.
No one knows for sure when or where enameling originated. But, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, it is widely believed that the decoration on a gold scepter found in a royal Mycenaean tomb at Kourion Kaloriziki, in Cyprus, and dating to the 11th century BC, is a true, early example of the technique.
Between the 6th and 12th centuries AD, cloisonné — in which tiny compartments (cloisons) made by soldering copper filaments to a metal surface are filled with vibrantly hued enamel — had a huge vogue in the Byzantine Empire. By the 7th century, Lombard craftsmen in northern Italy were using enamel to emulate Byzantine objects. In the 12th and 13th centuries, artisans in China imported the technique and made it so much their own that enameled objects have long been associated with Eastern aesthetics and motifs rather than Western ones.
Collectors of authentic antique Chinese furniture and decorative objects know that Ming dynasty-era cloisonné objects are particularly coveted. Although ornamentation was minimal at the time, Ming dynasty furniture often featured carved or painted details of flowers, insects, dragons, fruits and other motifs. As overseas trade expanded, techniques from the West, like cloisonné enamel painting, adorned table screens and other pieces.
Elaborately decorated Ming-era cloisonné objects and furnishings — vessels and other items featuring lots of vibrant colors and details — are likely to fetch considerable sums at auction, as Chinese cloisonné vases created during the Ming and Qing eras represent a golden age of the country’s furniture design. (Victorian cloisonné is also popular with design enthusiasts.)
Cloisonné wasn’t adopted in Japan until the 1800s. Back then, amid an era of societal and cultural shifts, a bolstered interest in art and design elevated Japanese craft traditions during the Meiji period. European styles like Japonisme appropriated Japanese design while craftsmen in places like Wales and England employed japanning, a varnishing technique that approximated the appearance of lacquer for the surfaces of furnishings.
Today, Meiji-era cloisonné vases or incense burners in good condition are of great interest to collectors of Asian art and furniture produced by the period’s Japanese cloisonné workshops.
Find antique cloisonné vases and other cloisonné objects for sale on 1stDibs.
- What is vintage cloisonne?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022In jewelry terms, a piece that is between 50 and 100 years old is considered vintage. Cloisonne jewelry is made by filling in tiny pockets or cloisons with ground glass, oxides and colorful enamels. This means that a piece of cloisonne jewelry that is 50-100 years old would be considered vintage. Shop a collection of vintage cloisonne from some of the world’s top sellers on 1stDibs.
- What is cloisonne vase?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022Cloisonné is a process for decorating objects by using metal strips or wire to create a design that is then filled in with enamel. Gemstones and colored glass can also be used in the design work, but would have to be cut down to size. This process produced vibrant intricate designs, which would especially be seen on vases. You’ll find a variety of cloisonné pieces from some of the world’s top sellers on 1stDibs.
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