Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Early 20th Century Japanese Japonisme Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Copper
Early 1900s French Napoleon III Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Enamel
Mid-20th Century Chinese Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Brass, Enamel
1920s French Art Deco Vintage Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Stoneware
1920s Chinese Vintage Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Brass, Enamel
1920s Vintage Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Glass
19th Century Japanese Meiji Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Bronze
Late 19th Century French Victorian Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Brass, Enamel
1890s Japanese Meiji Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Silver, Bronze, Enamel
Early 1900s French Chinoiserie Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Bronze, Enamel, Ormolu
Late 19th Century French Neoclassical Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Onyx, Stone, Metal, Bronze, Copper, Enamel
Late 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Enamel
20th Century Chinese Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Bronze
1880s Japanese Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Enamel
19th Century Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Bronze
1950s Japanese Showa Vintage Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Silver, Enamel
Late 19th Century French Beaux Arts Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Bronze, Enamel
Early 1900s Japanese Meiji Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Silver, Enamel
19th Century Japanese Meiji Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Bronze
20th Century Chinese Showa Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Bronze
Early 1900s Japanese Art Nouveau Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Copper, Enamel, Foil, Wire
Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Brass, Enamel
Late 20th Century Chinese Egyptian Revival Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Copper, Enamel
20th Century Asian Other Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Bronze
1880s Chinese Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Enamel
1920s Chinese Other Vintage Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Metal
19th Century Chinese Chinese Export Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Bronze
20th Century Chinese Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Porcelain
1870s Japanese Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Enamel
19th Century French Napoleon III Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Bronze
19th Century French Napoleon III Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Bronze
Early 20th Century Chinese Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Ormolu, Bronze, Enamel
1990s Italian Modern Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Metal, Metallic Thread
Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Marble, Bronze, Enamel
Late 20th Century Chinese Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Multi-gemstone, Brass
1990s Italian Modern Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Metal, Metallic Thread
Late 19th Century French Neoclassical Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Onyx, Bronze
Late 19th Century French Neoclassical Antique Cloissoné Vases and Vessels
Marble, Bronze
On 1stDibs: Antique Cloisonné Vases and Other Vessels for Your Home
Liven your home with cloisonné vases, bowls, lamps and other vessels and objects ornamented with lustrous enamel. Technically, enamel is colored glass fused to metal. But that simple description greatly understates the case. Applied using an array of techniques to a wide range of objects, it is one of the most dynamic, and alluring, mediums in the world.
No one knows for sure when or where enameling originated. But, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, it is widely believed that the decoration on a gold scepter found in a royal Mycenaean tomb at Kourion Kaloriziki, in Cyprus, and dating to the 11th century BC, is a true, early example of the technique.
Between the 6th and 12th centuries AD, cloisonné — in which tiny compartments (cloisons) made by soldering copper filaments to a metal surface are filled with vibrantly hued enamel — had a huge vogue in the Byzantine Empire. By the 7th century, Lombard craftsmen in northern Italy were using enamel to emulate Byzantine objects. In the 12th and 13th centuries, artisans in China imported the technique and made it so much their own that enameled objects have long been associated with Eastern aesthetics and motifs rather than Western ones.
Collectors of authentic antique Chinese furniture and decorative objects know that Ming dynasty-era cloisonné objects are particularly coveted. Although ornamentation was minimal at the time, Ming dynasty furniture often featured carved or painted details of flowers, insects, dragons, fruits and other motifs. As overseas trade expanded, techniques from the West, like cloisonné enamel painting, adorned table screens and other pieces.
Elaborately decorated Ming-era cloisonné objects and furnishings — vessels and other items featuring lots of vibrant colors and details — are likely to fetch considerable sums at auction, as Chinese cloisonné vases created during the Ming and Qing eras represent a golden age of the country’s furniture design. (Victorian cloisonné is also popular with design enthusiasts.)
Cloisonné wasn’t adopted in Japan until the 1800s. Back then, amid an era of societal and cultural shifts, a bolstered interest in art and design elevated Japanese craft traditions during the Meiji period. European styles like Japonisme appropriated Japanese design while craftsmen in places like Wales and England employed japanning, a varnishing technique that approximated the appearance of lacquer for the surfaces of furnishings.
Today, Meiji-era cloisonné vases or incense burners in good condition are of great interest to collectors of Asian art and furniture produced by the period’s Japanese cloisonné workshops.
Shop a collection of antique cloisonné vases and other vessels for your home on 1stDibs.
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