Engraving and Enamelling

The art of champleve

Phil Barnes

• Publisher: Crowood
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781785005466
• Topic: Tecnología e ingeniería
• Subtopic: Oficios técnicos y manufactureros

The exquisite colours of enamelling have been the choice of kings for centuries. This book explains the rich traditions of the magnificent technique of champleve, which combines the skills of engraving and enamelling. Champleve is a technique of enamelling requiring the creation of a cell into which enamel is then applied. Celebrating fifty years of working as a master craftsman, Phil Barnes gives a unique insight into all aspects of the process as he explains the techniques of engraving in preparation for enamelling, and then looks at enamels and how to work with them to create a piece, through to the final polishing and finishing. The book covers: a brief background to the history of enamelling, the materials and the techniques used; an introduction to the workshop and tools for the engraver and the enameller; instructions on transferring designs and making first cuts, recessing a cell and surface texturing for enamel; techniques for working with enamels, including laying over shaped surfaces, grading colours and repairing; advice on kilns and firing, polishing and finishing. A beautiful book that gives a masterclass in champleve enamel work and is fully illustrated with 209 colour photographs including step-by-step sequence shots and fine examples of finished pieces.

CHAPTER 1

Identifying Enamel and Champlevé

A good place to start would be to make perfectly clear what is meant by ‘enamel’. The word ‘enamel’ derives from the Old French esmail and Old High German smelzen (to smelt). As a term, enamel has been loosely used to cover some materials that are actually paints, lacquers or resins, but this is not the ‘enamel’ with which the chapters in this book are associated. The enamels covered here are vitreous enamels, vitreous meaning ‘to fire’: they can be described as a comparatively soft glass, not unlike the type used in the making of stained glass windows, and have a melting temperature of between 750 and 800°C (1,414 and 1,472°F). It is a compound of flint, sand, potash, lead, borax and silica. These materials when melted together give an end result of a clear frit or glass known as ‘flux’.

Molten enamel being poured during production at Milton Bridge Ceramic Colours Ltd, Stoke on Trent.

During manufacture various colouring metal oxides will be added to this frit, the recipes varying according to the different colours and shades required. For example, a blue will have a cobalt oxide included, or a green may have a variant of chrome oxide, with Purple of Cassius, a form of gold oxide, added to make reds. When re-heated, fused and cooled, and poured out over steel plates, the end result of this process is slabs of coloured glass. These slabs, broken up, ground down in a pestle and mortar into fine particles, applied on to a metal surface and then placed in a kiln and fired, will fuse and adhere to that metal base.

This is a brief description of the type of enamelling that will be covered in this book. Enamels come in three different types: transparent, opaque and translucent (sometimes known as ‘opal enamel’). A way of describing this further is to imagine three wine glasses, two filled with water and the other with milk. Light passes easily through the first glass filled with water and the water is as clear as glass: that is our transparent enamel. The glass with milk has no light penetrating through at all: this is the opaque. Add a little of the milk into the second glass of water and the clear water turns into a semi-clear milky liquid: light does pass through, but not to the same degree as the glass containing only water – this is the translucent or opal.

THE HISTORY OF ENAMELLING

The art of enamelling has a long recorded history: the oldest known pieces of enamel work are Mycenaean. In 1952 six gold enamelled finger rings were discovered in a tomb in Cyprus at Kouklia, and a royal gold sceptre decorated with enamel was discovered in a tomb in Kourion. These pieces are the earliest examples of enamel in existence; it is uncertain whether the craftsmen who carried out the work were Mycenaean, Cypriot or Egyptian, but it does indicate that enamelling was first practised in this area as early as the thirteenth century bc.

‘Alfred Had Me Made’: the inscription along the edge of this ninth-century piece, the Alfred Jewell AD871–899. Image © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford. AN1836P.135.371

The history of enamelling can be traced even further back, with instances of enamel work occurring from across the Roman empire; ornamental enamel work can be seen from Anglo Saxon Britain, with the Sutton Hoo treasure dating from the seventh century; and also in Britain, the ninth-century Alfred Jewell was discovered in 1693 at Newton Park, Somerset – it can be seen today at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The piece bears an inscription which in translation reads ‘Alfred had me made’: the central enamelled section in cloisonné depicts a figure holding garlands of flowers in each hand, thought to be that of King Alfred the Great who reigned from 871–899. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London have many pieces of champlevé enamels which date from the eleventh century and are of religious origin displayed in their medieval gallery.

Champlevé appears to have been the preferred technique of that period, and the piece shown here, the Becket Casket, made in Limoges, France between 1180 and 1190, illustrates this. The casket is made of copper, engraved and enamelled, gilt finished and fitted over a wooden case. It is thought that the casket was made to hold the relics of Thomas Beckett, taken to Peterborough Abbey by Abbot Benedict in 1177.

The Becket Casket, Limoges, France, AD1180–1190. An example of early religious champlevé. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The art of enamelling has gone in and out of fashion during its history; it saw a revival with masters such as Peter Carl Fabergé, famous for his jewel-like gold and enamelled Easter eggs, heavily decorated with engine turning and enamel work, and produced under the patronage of the Russian royal family. The 1900s saw the rise of the Art Nouveau movement, with beautiful enamelled jewellery from Parisian designers of that time such as René Lalique and Lucien Falize. Enamel work today is still popular, freelance practitioners and contemporary designer craftsmen producing fine examples of this ancient craft. The processes used by today’s enamellers are virtually the same as their predecessors, though of course there have been improvements, today’s enamels being more stable and reliable.

Developments on the mechanical side, especially with the kiln, have been significant: kilns once heated by charcoal developed into the muffle kiln heated by coke, which gave way to gas and electric kilns, while today’s kilns benefit from greater heat control, better insulation and a cleaner environment in which to work. But as regards technique, the basic process of preparing the enamel, the laying and firing and final finishing have remained virtually unaltered.

The Technique of Champlevé

This book concentrates on the technique of champlevé. Techniques in enamelling all bear French names, the reason for which I have never discovered, despite research – it is possibly just one of fashion, and because France was the centre for enamel work for many years. The term ‘champlevé’ translates as ‘raised field’, and involves the creation of a cell which is then filled with enamel. There is no specific way in which the cell has to be fashioned – in fact there are many ways they can be created: by using a steel die and stamping out the cell, by acid etching, by machine routing out, and by using today’s technology of 3D printing and laser cutting.

Gold and enamelled ring with green jade centre stone, engraved and enamelled for Elizabeth Gage Ltd.

My approach to champlevé is to create cells by hand engraving: I recess these to a certain depth with the use of brightly cut engraved lines – this creates textures that bring design and line to the cell, and refracts the light, bringing the colours of the enamel to life.

OTHER ENAMEL TECHNIQUES

While this book covers just one technique, that of champlevé, there are several other styles of enamel work. A quick résumé of a few of those techniques is given below.

Bassetaille: A low relief design is engraved and carved below the enamel surface. When enamelled over, these differences of depth give variations of colour due to the variations in the thickness of the enamel, giving a monotone effect with darker shades showing in the deeper areas, and lighter shades of the colour where the enamel is closer to the surface.

Cloisonné: Fine examples of cloisonné come from China and Japan, where this technique has a long history. Designs are created by bending and forming fine wires to create the cells, which are then applied to an enamelled base and fired; when the enamel becomes molten the wires sink into the surface, and on cooling are held firm. Enamels, which are generally opaque, can then be applied and graded to finalize the design, taking the enamel and the metal wires level to one surface.

Enamel painting, sometimes called ‘Limoges style’: In this technique, metallic oxides similar to those used in the making process of enamel are mixed with oil and painted on to a prepared enamelled surface. The colours will mix as any other painting medium, and can be thinned down to a wash to give subtle effects. An enamelled painting is built up in layers, and fired in between each layer; therefore many fires are required to create a finished piece. This technique was often used in miniature portraiture.

Guilloche: In this technique a metal base is engine turned, a process in which a regular repeated pattern with a very bright cut is created. There are two types of engine-turning machine: a rose, or round machine, and a straight machine. The cutter of the machine is controlled by thumb pressure. While a pointer follows a steel pattern bar, moving the piece to echo that pattern, the engine turner applies the cutting tool, making one cut at a time. With a click of a ratchet dial the piece moves along one cut width, and the process is repeated to form a continuous, regular bright surface. Generally a plain colour is laid over an engine-turned surface, and many examples of commercial work of this type can be found in antique shops. The biggest exponent of this type of work, with many fine examples, is Carl Fabergé, the great Russian master goldsmith.

18ct yellow gold and diamond clock. Guilloche dial enamelled for Roger Doyle Ltd.

Plique à jour: This translates roughly as ‘light of day’ or ‘letting in daylight’. This technique is created by the enamel being suspended within an open framework, giving the effect of a miniature stained-glass window, with the light passing freely through it. Fine exam...