Traditional Arts and Crafts-Cloisonné

Cloisonné

Cloisonné is a form of decoration in which beautiful designs of flowers, birds, people etc. are produced by baking vitreous enamels of various colors on a ground of metal, such as silver or copper, or of ceramic or glass. Cloisonné is used for items of personal adornment and for interior decoration. Some methods use wire to outline the designs, some do not.

Cloisonné, which has been produced in China for more than two thousand years, was also made in Japan for a short while in about the eighth century. It was not until the seventeenth century that cloisonné production methods were reintroduced from Korea. The art has flourished particularly since the nineteenth century, and this same period has seen numerous improvements in technique.

The Japanese word for cloisonné is shippoyaki, the literal meaning of which is “a ceramic work that is as beautiful as if encrusted with seven types of precious stones.”

【日本語訳】
七宝焼き
　七宝焼きは、銀や銅などの金属または陶器やガラスを素地として、ガラス質のうわぐすりを焼きつけて種々の色の花鳥人物などの美しい模様を現わし出したものである。装身具、室内装飾用の工芸品である。模様の輪郭に針金を用いたものと用いないものがある。中国では紀元前から行われ、わが国でも8世紀頃作られたがすたれてしまい、のち17世紀に改めて朝鮮から製法が伝えられ、19世紀以後特に盛んになり技術も進んだ。七宝焼きという言葉は、7種の珍宝をちりばめたように美しい焼物という意味である。