Cloissoné Furniture
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel, Brass
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Cloissoné Furniture
Copper, Enamel
Early 1900s Chinese Qing Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Copper, Enamel
Early 1900s Chinese Chinese Export Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Copper
20th Century Japanese Cloissoné Furniture
Metal, Enamel
Early 20th Century Japanese Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
1920s Chinese Qing Vintage Cloissoné Furniture
Copper, Enamel
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Cloissoné Furniture
Wood
20th Century Japanese Cloissoné Furniture
Metal, Enamel
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
20th Century Chinese Export Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze, Enamel
1960s Chinese Mid-Century Modern Vintage Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
20th Century Chinese Archaistic Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
Mid-20th Century Japanese Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze, Enamel
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Cloissoné Furniture
Ceramic
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Cloissoné Furniture
Copper, Enamel
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Cloissoné Furniture
Brass, Enamel
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
1920s Chinese Qing Vintage Cloissoné Furniture
Copper, Enamel
Mid-20th Century Japanese Meiji Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Cloissoné Furniture
Copper
Mid-20th Century Chinese Cloissoné Furniture
Brass
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
Early 20th Century Japanese Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
Early 20th Century Japanese Cloissoné Furniture
Copper
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel, Brass
Early 20th Century Japanese Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
1940s Chinese Chinese Export Vintage Cloissoné Furniture
Multi-gemstone, Brass, Enamel, Bronze
Early 20th Century Japanese Cloissoné Furniture
Copper, Enamel
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Cloissoné Furniture
Ceramic
Early 20th Century Japanese Japonisme Cloissoné Furniture
Metal, Brass
Early 20th Century Japanese Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinoiserie Cloissoné Furniture
Ceramic
Early 20th Century Japanese Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
20th Century Czech Cloissoné Furniture
Brass
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Cloissoné Furniture
Ceramic
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Cloissoné Furniture
Metal
Mid-20th Century Chinese Cloissoné Furniture
Brass
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Cloissoné Furniture
Brass, Enamel
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Cloissoné Furniture
Brass, Copper
Early 20th Century Japanese Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Cloissoné Furniture
Metal
1970s French Vintage Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze, Enamel
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel, Copper
Early 1900s Japanese Meiji Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Copper, Enamel
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
Mid-20th Century Japanese Japonisme Cloissoné Furniture
Metal
Early 20th Century Japanese Aesthetic Movement Cloissoné Furniture
Bronze, Enamel
Late 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Cloissoné Furniture
Brass
Early 20th Century Japanese Cloissoné Furniture
Enamel
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Cloissoné Furniture
Copper
1920s French Art Deco Vintage Cloissoné Furniture
Ceramic
Early 1900s Russian Baltic Antique Cloissoné Furniture
Silver, Enamel
Early 20th Century Chinese Arts and Crafts Cloissoné Furniture
Jade
Mid-20th Century Chinese Chinoiserie Cloissoné Furniture
Brass
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.