The artistic characteristics of cloisonné craftsmanship can be summarized by four words: shape, pattern, color and light. A fine cloisonné ware must first have a good shape, which depends on the tire; There should also be a beautiful decorative pattern, which is determined by the filigree; The gorgeous color is determined by the preparation of the blue material; The brilliant luster is finished with polished and gilded finishes.

Therefore, it is a collection of arts, crafts, carving, inlay, glass smelting, metallurgy and other professional skills as a whole, with a distinctive national style and profound cultural connotation, is one of the most Beijing characteristics of traditional handicrafts.

Cloisonné is seen in real objects, with the Ming Xuande period (year) as the most. During this period, the stylistic characteristics of the craft have been formed and are close to the mature period. Varieties include bottles, plates, bowls, stoves, round boxes, incense, etc.

Later, there were appreciatives such as tripods. There are two kinds of material materials for making the tire type: gold and copper. The patterns are mostly banana leaves, gluttony, lion play ball, passionflower and big lotus.

The glaze colors are mostly sky blue (light blue), sapphire blue (lapis lazuli), light green (grass green), dark green (vegetable green), red (bloodstone), white (cha canal color) and yellow.

The large bowl of crocus in the Xuande period in the Forbidden City, with full flower shape, bright color and solid enamel, is a representative work of this period.

The cloisonne products in the Jingtai period, judging from the physical objects displayed in the Forbidden City and other places, the craftsmanship has been further developed. The Imperial Supervisor (Royal Factory) in the palace had a cloisonné making workshop ("Old News under the Sun").

During this period, the level of tire production has reached a considerable height. The tire type is square and round, and it is transformed into a practical aspect. In addition to bottles, plates, bowls, boxes, smokers, furnaces, tripods, there are flowers, flower pots, basins, charcoal pots, lamps, wax tables, bottles, pots and other utensils, there are dragons playing with pearls, dragons and phoenixes and other auspicious themes, there are clouds and cranes, flames and other themes that express Taoism and Buddhism.

The pattern of the great lotus is also becoming fuller, the shape of the branches is lively and layered, and the glaze color also appears grape purple (amethyst), emerald blue (the intermediate color of sky blue and royal blue) and purple red (rose) new colors, the glaze color of this period has the brightness and purity of the connotation, radiating the light of the gemstone. Nor has it reached this level in any subsequent period.

In terms of decorative techniques, great attention is paid to the treatment of metalworking. The top, cover, ear, foot edge line and other parts of the utensils are mostly decorated with chisel work. Mr. Zhu Jiapu said that the products of this period were "neatly filigree, polished and finely polished, and evenly gilded", and "they are another step improvement on the basis of the Xuande era." ”

Most of the shapes of cloisonne in the Ming Dynasty were vessels, and most of them were traditional shapes of ceramics and bronzes in the past dynasties. Its decorative patterns are mainly Daming lotus, and there are also a few decorations with deformed series flowers and bronze patterns, and its color is mainly blue (lake blue), with a small amount of red, white, green, yellow and other colors.

The color is unified, exquisite, decently decorated, and the decorative copper is beautiful, the thickness is combined, and the key points are highlighted. The cloisonné craft is mature and famous for its colorful and national artistic style.

The Qing Dynasty was another stage in the development of cloisonné enamel technology. Due to the stability of the society and the prosperity of the economy, the palace Yangxin Hall set up a royal factory, called the "manufacturing office". In the thirtieth year of Kangxi (1691), there were several hundred royal craftsmen in the "manufacturing office".

In the thirty-second year of Kangxi (1693), "Zuo" was set up to manufacture various imperial utensils. Enamel work is also one of them. However, the production level of this period did not develop much compared with that of the Ming Dynasty. In the Qianlong period (year), cloisonne and carved lacquer, gold lacquer inlay and other industries have achieved unprecedented development.

In the fourth year of Qianlong, Liang Shaowen, an enamel artist, was recruited from Guangzhou, and Wang Shixiong, an artist from Yangzhou, was invited to the palace to make enamels. During this period, cloisonné products were everywhere in the palace. From the tent hook used in the bed, to the large screen, and even the pagoda with the height of the building (there are furnishings in the Qianlong Garden of the Forbidden City Treasure Museum, and the main hall in the Xiaobra Palace of the Eight Temples outside Chengde), as well as daily necessities, tables, chairs, beds, wine utensils, inkstones, boxes, pen holders, architectural decorations, religious supplies, etc., are all prepared.

The social economy continues to develop, to the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the people are abundant, the national strength is strong, the ruling class has enough financial resources and energy to support the development of arts and crafts, many craft varieties have made great progress compared with before, and the enamel process of this period is no exception.

In the early years of Kangxi, the Qing court set up "enamel work" in the manufacturing office department attached to the Wuying Palace to manufacture special utensils for the court. During the Qianlong period, the palace manufacturing office broke through the scope of ordinary bottles, pots, bowls and plates in the production of enamel ware, and expanded to furniture.

These inlaid enamel furniture can be roughly divided into several categories, such as cloisonné enamel furniture, inlaid enamel furniture, and inlaid enamel furniture, according to the different techniques of inlaid enamel. This enamelled crocus refrigerator is a beautiful piece of cloisonné enamel furniture.

This refrigerator is a product of the Qianlong period, 41.8 cm high, 72.592.5 cm long at the mouth, 6464 cm long at the bottom, the refrigerator is rectangular, double open live cover, one cover has two copper coin patterns to open the light, used to lift the lid of the box, and at the same time has the function of ventilation. The four walls of the cover are covered with copper, and one side of the edge is engraved with the six-character regular script of "Qianlong Year of the Qing Dynasty". There are double fish swallow ring handles on both sides.

The inner wall of the box is inlaid with silver. The cover and the four walls are covered with sky blue enamel glaze for the ground, the cloisonné glaze is filled with various colors of entwined crocus pattern, and the bottom of the box is decorated with cloisonné enamel ice plum pattern.

The refrigerator is supported by a mahogany base, and the spandrel at the four corners of the base is inlaid with enamel animal face patterns, drum legs and teeth, and the foot ends are carved with lion claw patterns that roll outward. Step on the mud.

The enamel glaze of this refrigerator is rich and bright, and the workmanship is relatively fine, which is used for ice cooling in summer, and can also be used to cool the food in the box to play the "chilled" effect.

The material materials used in this period are divided into upper, middle and lower grades, the upper one is gold and gold wire, the middle one is silver and silver wire, and the lower one is copper and copper wire" ("Recent Situation of Peking Enamel Industry", 1928). The content of the pattern is also more extensive than in the Ming Dynasty.

The patterns of flowers, birds, and cordyceps are more vivid and colorful, and the dragon and phoenix patterns are more rigid and soft, and the Daming Lotus has also evolved into a delicate and delicate hook lotus, and there are works made by using the famous paintings of literati in the past dynasties. At this time, the use of hand-cranked wire pressing machines has begun, and the silk craftsmanship has reached an unprecedented level of uniformity and exquisiteness.

Not only did the glaze appear in colors such as pink, silver, and black, but the crushing technique also improved greatly. The refinement of the glaze grinding has played a great role in the improvement of the dotting technique and the expressiveness of the work, and the sand hole of the product has also been greatly reduced. The combination of cloisonné with lacquerware, wood and other crafts also began in the Qianlong period. In the early days, cloisonné basically maintained the style of the Qianlong period, but it has begun to decline, until the Daoguang period (year), the number of surviving works is very small.

After the outbreak of the Opium War in 1840, the cloisonné enamel products with a distinctive national style were once loved by Westerners, and the enamel process was slightly restored and developed. During the Xianfeng period, there were several companies such as Dexingcheng, Quanxingcheng, Tianruitang, etc., carefully studied the enamel industry, and it began to flourish" ("Recent Situation of Beiping Enamel Industry", "Economic Semi-Monthly", July 1928).

In the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900), the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing, the sea ban was opened, and cloisonné was exported abroad. Under the stimulus of this foreign trade economy, in addition to the government-run enamel workshops, the private sector has also opened businesses and shops, such as Lao Tianli, Bao Huasheng, Jingyuan Tang, Zhiyuan Tang and so on. In 1904, the "Baoding Furnace" produced by Lao Tianli won the first prize at the Chicago World's Fair in the United States (and later won the first prize again at the 1915 Panama International Exposition), and its reputation in the world was greatly enhanced.

In terms of domestic sales, for a period of time after the middle of Xianfeng, cloisonne was only available in Beijing. Due to the inconvenient transportation at that time, and most merchants from other cities came to Beijing to buy, so the sales volume was very small. In the late Qing Dynasty, although enamel (cloisonné) products once showed a relatively prosperous scene, this situation was only short-lived, and soon entered the predicament of recession.

Honored for bronze tires gilded. The body is made of green enamel glaze as the ground, decorated with feather patterns, copper gilded claws, hammered curly tails, and a round groove is opened on the back of the coffin, and the oval is attached. The statue is made of light blue enamel glaze as the ground, decorated with a hook lotus pattern, and there are Taiji figures in the middle of both sides.

In addition to the enamel made by the Qing Palace's Internal Affairs Office, there are also important production areas such as Guangzhou and Yangzhou, and the cloisonné enamel ware fired in these two places, on the one hand, is affected by the palace technology, according to the royal sample, and the objects required for the inner court are fired; On the other hand, due to regional differences, it has obvious local characteristics.

During the Qianlong period, Yangzhou had fired many varieties of enamel ware such as Tianqiu bottles, table lamps, and Zun into the inner court. Yangzhou's cloisonné enamel has a unique shape, the enamel glaze is cold, like to use green, blue, strong color contrast. The filigree lines are slender, the technique is skillful, and the shape, color and filigree technique of the utensils are very different from the style of the inner court.

The cloisonné of the early Qing Dynasty lacked originality, and most of the shapes, colors and decorations followed the style of the Ming Dynasty. In the middle and late Qing Dynasty, due to the luxury of the royal family, the influence on cloisonné was great, and the works of this period were rich in shapes, in addition to the shape of utensils, there were three-dimensional buildings, screens, tables and chairs, animal shapes and practical objects.

It can be said that since the middle of the Qing Dynasty, cloisonné has embarked on a new era in terms of performance content. Its decorative themes are extensive, such as hook lotus, dragon and phoenix, auspicious flowers and birds, etc., and the colors are also richer than those of the Ming Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty played a great role in the development of cloisonné. Since cloisonné was mostly worshiped by the court before the middle of the Qing Dynasty, it felt too cumbersome and luxurious in terms of its shape, decoration, color and workmanship.