Description
“Shippo” (“cloisonne” in Japanese) means the seven treasures; gold, silver, lapis lazuli, coral, amber, giant clams and agate.
The name “shippo”, comes from the meaning “an enamelware as beautiful as the seven treasures”.To make cloisonne, silver wires and glass glaze are set on a metal base to make the patterns and the piece is fired in an electric kiln. The pattern on the surface hardens into a glassy substance as the glaze melts and the cloisonne is complete. Several techniques that can only be seen in Japan are used to make gorgeous and beautiful cloisonne ware.
Artistic Techniques
Wire cloisonné
Wire cloisonné enamel (yūsen shippō) uses strips of silver wire to create partitions between areas of differently colored enamel. This is the basic method for producing cloisonné enamel ware.
“Lost-base” plique-à-jour
“Lost-base” plique-à-jour (shōtai shippō) is prepared following the same steps as wired cloisonné, but at the end of the process the copper vessel is dissolved in acid, leaving behind only the enameled surface. The Japanese term shōtai means “omitted base.”
“Muddy” cloisonné
An opaque cloisonné that looks like matte mud.
Brass wire instead of silver wire is used to create partitions between the different colored enamel.
