Cloissoné Furniture
Mid-20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Cloissoné Furniture
Brass, Enamel
19th Century Chinese Chinoiserie Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Silver
Late 19th Century Japanese Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze, Enamel
19th Century Russian Japonisme Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Silver, Enamel
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze, Enamel, Ormolu
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze, Enamel, Ormolu
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze, Enamel, Ormolu
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze, Enamel, Ormolu
Mid-19th Century European Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Silver
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze, Enamel, Ormolu
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze, Ormolu, Enamel
2010s Cloissoné Furniture
Copper, Enamel
Mid-19th Century Chinese Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Metal
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze, Ormolu, Enamel
2010s Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
Early 1900s Chinese Art Nouveau Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Metal
Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Marble, Multi-gemstone, Brass
Early 20th Century Chinese Cloissoné Furniture
Copper
Late 19th Century Chinese Chinese Export Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel, Bronze, Ormolu
Late 19th Century French Victorian Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Brass, Enamel
Early 20th Century Chinese Cloissoné Furniture
Ormolu, Bronze, Enamel
Late 19th Century French Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Multi-gemstone, Marble, Brass
19th Century French Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Ormolu, Bronze, Enamel
Mid-20th Century Cloissoné Furniture
Early 20th Century European Art Deco Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel, Bronze
19th Century French Art Nouveau Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Ceramic
Late 19th Century French Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze, Enamel
Early 20th Century Chinese Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
Early 20th Century Chinese Cloissoné Furniture
Ceramic
Late 19th Century French Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Ormolu, Enamel
2010s Art Deco Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
19th Century Chinese Chinoiserie Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Cloissoné Furniture
Copper, Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
1930s Chinese Chinese Export Vintage Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze
Early 20th Century Japanese Japonisme Cloissoné Furniture
Brass, Bronze, Enamel
Mid-19th Century French Late Victorian Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Onyx, Enamel
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze, Ormolu, Enamel
19th Century French Japonisme Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze, Enamel
1960s Chinese Vintage Cloissoné Furniture
19th Century French Neoclassical Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Ormolu, Bronze, Enamel
Early 20th Century Japanese Aesthetic Movement Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze, Enamel
Early 20th Century Japanese Japonisme Cloissoné Furniture
Copper
20th Century Russian Cloissoné Furniture
Silver, Enamel
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Cloissoné Furniture
Brass
Late 19th Century French Classical Greek Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Lapis Lazuli, Bronze, Enamel
20th Century Russian Cloissoné Furniture
Silver, Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
1890s Japanese Chinoiserie Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze
Early 20th Century Chinese Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
Early 20th Century Japanese Japonisme Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel, Metal
20th Century Russian Belle Époque Cloissoné Furniture
Silver, Enamel
20th Century Chinese Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
Early 20th Century Chinese Cloissoné Furniture
Metal
1950s Chinese Chinoiserie Vintage Cloissoné Furniture
Copper, Enamel
Early 1900s Chinese Chinese Export Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze
Mid-20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
Late 19th Century Chinese Chinese Export Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Copper
Cloisonné Vases, Lamps, Bowls and Other Furniture and Objects for Sale on 1stDibs
Liven your home with cloisonné vases, bowls, lamps and other objects and furnishings 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.
Find cloisonné vases, lighting, decorative bowls and other objects for sale on 1stDibs.