Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/194

Rh A rare variety of cloisonne enamelling is known to French antiquaries as enamel &quot; de plique a jour.&quot; The peculiarity of this style consisted in setting transparent enamels without any background, so that light could be freely transmitted tli rough the glass, the enamels being fixed by having their edges fused to the windows in which they were framed. Specimens of this work are extremely rare. A fine example, in the shape of a small covered cup, may be seen in the South Kensington Museum, having been purchased for the sum of 400. Very similar in effect to the cloisonne enamels, but much less rare and valuable, are those inlaid works which were executed by the champ-leve process. Copper was usually employed in place of the precious metals ; and. the par titions between one colour and another were formed by ridges of the base and not by separate fillets of metal. A plate of copper, about inch thick, and having the surface polished, formed the ground-work of the enamel. By means of a graver, the parts to be enamelled were chased out, so as to leave slender ribs standing up as boundary- walls to the cavities. Enamel in the state of either powder or paste was then introduced into these casements, and the work was fired. Finally, the surface was polished, and the metallic outlines generally gilt. In some examples, the figures -are represented in enamel on a metal background ; while in others the figures stand out in engraved metal upon an enamelled background ; and in others again the entire field is enamelled. Champ-leve&quot; enamelling was applied to a vast variety of purposes, and specimens of the work are to be found in almost every museum. The late Celtic or Romano-British enamels, referred to above, belong to this class. One of the most interesting champ-lev6 enamels of early date is the elegant bronze vase which was found in 1835 in a tumulus at Bartlow, in the parish of Ashdown, Essex. The sepulchral mound formed one of a group of four conical barrows, which have been referred by their contents to the late Roman period. The vase is a globular vessel with rectangular handle, ornamented with bands of running leaves and flowers executed in blue, green, and red enamels. Faraday showed that the blue colour was due to cobalt, and the red to copper, the green also being probably a copper-colour. This singularly interesting specimen suffered from a fire at Easton Hall in 1847, and its remains are now in the British Museum. (See coloured figure in Archceologia, vol. xxvi.) Another famous example of this kind of enamelling is seen in Westminster Abbey, in the tomb of William de Valence, earl of Pembroke, who died in 1296. It is highly probable that the enamels on this monument were executed at Limoges in France, a city which during the Middle Ages was the chief centre of the enamelling industry. So numerous were the enamels of the early Limoges school that it is impossible within the limits of this article to refer to special examples. They date back certainly as early as the latter part of the 12th century; for a letter which is referred to the year 1170 alludes to an enamelled book- cover de opere Lemovicino. The champ-leve&quot; process was extensively applied by the Limoges enamellers to the decoration of altar-furniture, especially reliquaries or shrines, pyxes for preserving the host, priket candle sticks, ciboria, crosiers, and other ecclesiastical appoint ments. During the 14th century Limoges lost its reputa tion; but it revived at a later period in an entirely new style of enamelling. The inlaid process, in fact, gave way to that of painted enamels, and the graver was displaced by the pencil. But before noticing the process of superficial enamelling, it is desirable to refer to another style, which took its birth in Italy at the beginning of the lith century. In the Italian process, the enamels were always more or less translucent, and completely covered the metal ground, the design being defined by sculpturing beneath the transparent medium. The enamels were of various colours, and differences of shade were obtained by the varying thickness of the glass in different parts of the design. Gold or silver was the metal generally employed. The subject was chased in very low relief, and covered with powdered enamels. Great care was required during firing, to prevent the several colours running together in a con fused mass. As examples of translucent enamels, reference may be made to the silver horn, known as the &quot; Bruce horn,&quot; the property of the marquis of Aylesbury, and to the crosier of William of Wykeham at New College, Oxford. Soon after the introduction of transparent enamelling in Italy, the art became popular in France, and this probably led the way to the invention of enamel-painting. The artists of Limoges acquired -great celebrity in this work. The early painted enamels from the Limousin workshops were executed in opaque white upon a brown ground, the white being overlaid where necessary by transparent coloured enamels. The lights were picked out in gold, while the brilliant effect of gems was obtained by the use otpailletteS) or coloured foils. Nardon Penicaud is the best known artist in this style, and an excellent example of his work, dated 1503, is preserved in the Hotel de Cluny in Paris. About the beginning of the IGth century a much more finished style of painting was introduced at Limoges ; and under the auspices of Francis I. the art attained to a con siderable development. Leonard Limousin, who is known to have painted from 1532 to 1574, became the great master of this style. While some of the works were executed in brilliant colours, most of them were in monochrome. The background was generally dark, either black or deep purple, and the design was painted en grisaille, relieved in the case of figure-subjects by delicate carnations. The effect was occasionally heightened by ap propriate touches of gold, and in many of the coloured enamels brilliancy was obtained by the use of silver foil, or paillon, placed beneath a transparent enamel. Portraits were frequently painted on copper plaques; and the art was also applied to the decoration of ewers, vases, plateaux, candlesticks, salt-cellars, and a variety of elegant objects for domestic as well as ecclesiastical use. Among the artists of this school may be mentioned Pierre Raymond, Jean Penicaud, Pierre and Jean Courtois, Martin Didier, Jean Court dit Vigier, P. Courteys, and the master known only by his initials C. N. Towards the latter end of the 16th and in the beginning of the 17th century it was the fashion for the Limoges enamellers to paint in a minute style, which is seen in the works of the brothers Laudin and of the family of Nouailhers. The art at length degenerated into a system of tawdry colouring, and in the reign of Louis XIV. it fell into a state of decay, from which an attempt to revive it was made by Louis XVI., but without success. Probably the decline of the Limoges school was connected with the rise of a new branch of enamelling, which has been distinguished as the miniature style. This is the style which has continued in vogue up to the present day. Its invention is ascribed to Jean Toutin, a goldsmith of Chateaudun, but it was greatly improved by Jean Petitot of Geneva, who carried it to a high state of perfection, and painted for Charles I. in England and for Louis XIV. in France. These enamels are executed generally on plates of copper or of gold, but silver is sometimes employed. In consequence of the risk involved in the successive firings, the plates were formerly confined to a small size, about 5 or 6 inches square. Horace Hone, an English enameller