How to Distinguish between Chinese and Japanese Cloisonne

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How to Distinguish between Chinese and Japanese Cloisonne

Written by admin on August 11, 2010 – 3:15 pm -

By Sheila Bridge

Cloisonne is the delicate art form of decorating various metalwork objects with enamel. This painstaking elaborate art form has become beloved throughout Europe, North America and Asia. Although it is popular even now, the differences between Chinese and Japanese Cloisonne is not well known. While these differences are small, with the right help, you'll easily be able to tell the difference between these two beautiful types of Cloisonne.

Border and Rim: The simplest way to tell between Chinese and Japanese Cloisonne is to look carefully at the rim and border of each piece being examined. The Chinese vases and boxes often had a smooth interior that was a brightly colored turquoise. The Japanese boxes and vases had an orange texture peel on their enamel. Often the colors used in their art pieces were yellow, dark green, navy blue and gray enamel.

Ruyi refers to the borders that the Chinese pieces were decorated in. This was a colorful design that was about one inch in width. On the Japanese Cloisonne there is no such border. Instead, they use an extremely thin circular decoration at the rim of the box or vase. These decorations were often adorned in the following colors: reddish brown, green or blue.

Types: Japan started producing Cloisonne two centuries after the Chinese. This was due to their restriction on trading polices, however, once they got into it, the Japan excelled beyond China. For this reason, Japan has a larger variety of Cloisonne that they created. A few of their most infamous types in this technique are Ginbari, Akasuke and Totai. The Ginbari used bright, translucent enamels while the Akasuke was a clear, red enamel. Totai was very earthy when it was created with a brown tree bark texture as a finish.

With a keen eye, you'll soon be learning how to tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese Cloisonne.

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