Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
October 2004
Foreign influence contributed to the development of cloisonné during the early fourteenth to fifteenth century in China. The earliest securely dated Chinese cloisonné is from the reign of the Ming Xuande emperor (1426–35). However, cloisonné is recorded during the previous Yuan dynasty, and it has been suggested that the technique was introduced to China at that time via the western province of Yunnan, which, under Mongol rule, received an influx of Islamic people. A very few cloisonné objects have been dated on stylistic grounds to the Yongle reign (1403–24) of the early Ming dynasty.
Cloisonné is the technique of creating designs on metal vessels with colored-glass paste placed within enclosures made of copper or bronze wires, which have been bent or hammered into the desired pattern. Known as cloisons (French for “partitions”), the enclosures generally are either pasted or soldered onto the metal body. The glass paste, or enamel, is colored with metallic oxide and painted into the contained areas of the design. The vessel is usually fired at a relatively low temperature, about 800°C. Enamels commonly shrink after firing, and the process is repeated several times to fill in the designs. Once this process is complete, the surface of the vessel is rubbed until the edges of the cloisons are visible. They are then gilded, often on the edges, in the interior, and on the base.
Cloisonné objects were intended primarily for the furnishing of temples and palaces, because their flamboyant splendor was considered appropriate to the function of these structures but not well suited to a more restrained atmosphere, such as that of a scholar’s home. This opinion was expressed by Cao Zhao (or Cao Mingzhong) in 1388 in his influential Gegu Yaolun (Guide to the Study of Antiquities), in which cloisonné was dismissed as being suitable only for lady’s chambers. However, by the period of Emperor Xuande, this ware came to be greatly prized at court.
Citation
Department of Asian Art. “Chinese Cloisonné.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/clos/hd_clos.htm (October 2004)
Further Reading
Brinker, Helmut, and Albert Lutz. Chinese Cloisonné: The Pierre Uldry Collection. New York: Asia Society Galleries, 1989.
Brown, Claudia. Chinese Cloisonné: The Clague Collection. Phoenix: Phoenix Art Museum, 1980.
Garner, Harry. Chinese and Japanese Cloisonné Enamels. London: Faber & Faber, 1962.
Leidy, Denise, et al. Chinese Decorative Arts. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997. See on MetPublications
Rawson, Jessica, et al. The British Museum Book of Chinese Art. London: British Museum Press, 1992.
Sullivan, Michael. The Arts of China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.
Till, Barry, and Paula Swart. Antique Chinese Cloisonné. Victoria, B.C.: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1983.
Additional Essays by Department of Asian Art
- Department of Asian Art. “Mauryan Empire (ca. 323–185 B.C.).” (October 2000)
- Department of Asian Art. “Zen Buddhism.” (October 2002)
- Department of Asian Art. “Chinese Gardens and Collectors’ Rocks.” (October 2004)
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- Department of Asian Art. “Nature in Chinese Culture.” (October 2004)
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