.... How do they make Cloisonne beads?
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Have you ever wondered how these beautiful cloisonne beads are made?
Many of us love Cloisonne beads with their traditional designs of flowers and leaves, but we probably don`t think about the process of making them.
Cloisonne is an ancient craft used for many decorative items as well as for jewellery - dishes, plates and bowls, ornaments of many types, statuettes, headdresses, religious artefacts, picture frames, vases and much much more.
The technique was first developed in the Middle East and it spread to the Byzantine Empire (the Greek speaking Roman Empire of the Middle Ages) and from there along the Silk Route - a series of trade routes through regions of the Asian continent connecting the East and West by linking traders.
Chinese cloisonne is probably the most well known although Russian cloisonne from the Tsarist era is very highly prized by collectors.
Chinese cloisonné is not the same as Canton enamel which is a similar type of enamel work which is painted on freehand and does not use wire partitions to hold the colours separately.
To make cloisonne beads the artist first makes a plain metal bead as a base, they then use fine wire to bend into the required shapes to hold the colours that make the design - usually flowers and leaves on beads. The artists work with small pliers, tweezers and other customer made tools. Solder is sometimes used for delicate patterns, but this can make the enamel discolour and bubble, so the base material is fired with a thin layer of clear enamel first. The Cloisonne wire is then glued to that using a special gum that fuses the wire to the clear enamel when fired again. The gum burns off leaving no residue.
Coloured glass is crushed into a powder to make a water-based paste (called Frit) and this is painted into the sections of the wire patterns, usually in traditional designs - a little like painting by numbers! After the frit has dried, the beads are fired again in an oven to melt the Frit on to the metal. This is done several times to build up the coatings to the same height as the wire. The glass and a portion of the cloisons are then ground and polished to form an even smooth surface and the exposed metal wire is electroplated with a thin film of gold to prevent corrosion and to give a pretty appearance.
Please take a look at the beautiful cloisonne necklaces I currently have on sale:
www.the-handmade-jewellery-shop.com
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/The-Handmade-Jewellery-Shop
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