Cloisonne are metal objects created by hand with intricate designs and art which has been a distinct artwork and a source of creativity from the beginning of time. It's a unique method to design metal objects using gemstones and glass enamel paints, and other decorative items that give the art stand out from other craft materials. The ornamentation of the metal objects begins by making compartments in the metal objects by using silver and gold wires. Once the soldering has been completed the objects are sprayed using enamel paints, and they are baked in an oven. The work is a work of art that has existed in the past since antiquity and has been around as long as 13 century BCE.
The presence of this work of art is primarily located in Europe, Asia and North America. The delicate art work is primarily found in China and Japan. While Chinese and Japanese Cloisonnes are very similar but there is a differences that can help you choose the ideal artwork.
In this article I'll explain the most general differences in Chinese and Japanese Cloisonne.
1. The most basic and easiest to determine the difference between Chinese as well as Japanese cloisonne is by looking to the edges and the rim of both metal objects. Chinese Cloisonne are polished products that have a clear and smooth interior. Contrarily, Japanese cloisonne have an orange peel-like texture over the enamel. Chinese pieces are bordered embellished with Ruyi. Ruyi are colorful decorative pieces that measure one inch wide. They resemble the upside-down cloverleaf and have one dot at the center inside each of the clover. The difference is that Japanese Cloisonne don't have such large border on the metal piece. Instead, they make use of thin designs around the edges that typically are blue, reddish brown or green color. These tiny decorations are dots that are adorned around along the edge of the piece.
2. There is a distinction in the development of cloisonne items in China and Japan. Chinese Cloisonne was well-developed and accessible to trade before Japan. However, Japan has always kept its borders secure and safe from all the world, which is why they created this art form and began trading a few centuries later. Chinese cloisonne was first creating this art form around 1300 and was later adapted to other art forms. Japan also adopted the Chinese methods of embellishing metal vases and bowls in the 1830s, and later in the 1870s, they came up with their own method of creating and completing the art. In other words we can say that the genesis of cloisonne are in China, and later in other nations. But, Japanese have proved themselves as a top performer in the field of cloisonne.
3. While Japanese cloisonne was not widely known until their existence, they have outperformed china. Therefore, Japanese cloisonne have a greater variety of cloisonnes in contrast to Chinese Cloisonne. The most famous types of Japanese Cloisonne is Ginbari, Akasuke and Totai. The differences between the three styles lies in their finish. Totai had a coating of a dark brown bark, Ginbari with bright, translucent enamels , and Akasuke with an unmistakably red enamel.
4. There is also a difference in the seals and marks of the cloisonnes of two nations. Chinese Cloisonne were usually sealed or engraved with bright enamel. The sealed was stamped from 1897 to 1921 to facilitate export purposes and was often encoded with "made in China" after 1921 , and then only "china" from 1897 until 1912. In contrast, Japanese Cloisonne were not labeled or sealed. This was due to the fact that Japanese Cloisonne were shipped from local customers, which did not require any export labels.
5. A slight variation in the coating of enamel on the cloisonnes of both nations. The top of the Chinese Cloisonne is coated with enamel to make it stronger for the high temperature of the kiln. Enamel coating is applied to shield the base from break or wrap from extreme heating. Japanese Cloisonnes did not have an enamel coating, but instead were embellished with Cloisonne wires that were coated with the texture of orange peel.
6. The styles of the two art works were also distinct. Chinese Cloisonne was mostly made of patterns that were symmetrical, representing nature such as floral arrangements for the season or Buddhist lotus pattern , or mythical animals like winged horse, kara-shishi or Phoenix. Japanese Cloisonne utilized symbols like Japanese empress, or the emperor symbol. They generally use Asymmetrical designs, with a more dense appearance than Chinese Cloisonne. The most common design employed by both nations was a dragon motif. The only difference between the two versions of the dragon motif is the amount of feet shown. The Japanese Cloisonne was depicted with three toes, while a Chinese Cloisonnes had the representation of four or five toes.
7. Regarding the finish and gilding of the two cloisonnes. Chinese Cloisonne employ gilding using gold to protect them from the heat. A lot of the surfaces of Chinese Cloisonne are smooth and bright in hue. For Japanese cloisonne, the metal objects aren't gold-plated, but rather a mixture of silver, copper, as well as brass wires.
8. The majority of Japanese Cloisonnes were of unique shapes and sizes , in contrast to Chinese Cloisonne's that had similar shape and size, consisting of an incense burner, vase, and 2 candlesticks.
9. The body parts of Japanese Cloisonne were mainly comprised of bronze or copper, and Chinese Cloisonne was made of bronze. But sheet-copper bodies found in Chinese cloisonne came into use in the first half of the sixteenth century.
10. Comparatively to Chinese cloisonne Japanese cloisonne for sale are more polished and reflect light.
I am of the opinion that the more we learn about the differences between Chinese and Japanese cloisonne's, better we will be able to distinguish between them and gain more information when purchasing the latter. Although there are differences between the two nations however, you can discover a selection of antique designs and innovative designs on both of these pieces of metal.
