Vintage Enamel Costume Jewelry

Enameling is ancient technique in which powdered colored glass, or powdered clear glass that has been mixed with pigments, is applied to a metal object and then fired until it melts. The result is a layer of pure pigment on a surface. In costume jewelry, this technique is used to create everything from a portrait on a Victorian locket to flower petals on a Trifari brooch to the wings on an Egyptian Revival scarab pin. One of the most elegant types of enameling is called plique à jour, in which the enamel is visible from either side of the piece, allowing light to illuminate the enameling like a stained-glass window. Translucent plique à jour dragonfly wings were popular during the Art Nouveau period, while green and blue enamels were often used to suggest forests and skies in pieces with floral foregrounds. An even more widespread example of enameling is cloisonné, in which lakes of melted enamels are allowed to cool between filaments of gold or copper that have been soldered to the object’s surface. In cloisonné, the object is typically fired and refilled with enamel multiple times to account for the material’s shrinkage. Pieces are then polished, and sometimes even lacquered.