 |
|
  |
||||||||||||||||||
| What is enamelling? | |||||||||||||||||||
Unfortunately, the term enamel has recently been confused with a glossy oil-based paint. True enamels such as those displayed on this site are more correctly vitreous enamels, namely glass-based. The glass is applied, usually in dry powder form or as a paste, to a metal surface and fused in a kiln at about 800 degrees Centigrade. A brief history Enamelling is many thousands of years old, first being used on weaponry in the Bronze Age (enamel is compatible with bronze but not iron). Applying silica and oxides onto metal was probably discovered accidentally in early foundries and later refined by the Egyptians, Greeks and especially in the Middle Ages. In the latter period it was not only used on ornaments and weapons but on church vessels, reliquaries and altarpieces. The craft reached a state of fine art at Limoges where it was treated as a form of miniature painting, and in the East where the technique of cloisonné was perfected. |
