True enamel is a vitreous (glassy) substance produced of powdered glass, pigment and water, fused to a metal surface (called a ground plate) at temperatures in the range of 750 to 850 degrees Celsius.
The word, “enamel,” comes from the old high German, “smelzan,” which became the modern German word, “esmail.” In French it is called “email,” and in Italian, “smalto.”
Common utilitarian wares like pots and other kitchen items, sometimes called porcelain-coated or agate ware, are actually coated with enamel. The idea was to keep taste and toxins of the metal from leeching into acidic foods and beverages.
Vintage pieces of enameled kitchenalia are highly sought-after by collectors for their charming old country look.
The most commonly seen use of decorative enamel work appear in oriental cloisonne (cell work) and champleve (raised field work), both over a ground plate of either brass or bronze.

With cloisonne, an intricate design is constructed of thin wire (sometimes silver) and soldered to the ground plate. Then the “cells” of the design are filled with various enamels and the entire piece is fired.
With champleve, a detailed design is cut into the ground plate, filled in with chosen enamels, and then the whole confection heads for the oven.
These techniques, like all enamel techniques, are very labor intensive, but in the truly beautiful pieces there is much more than just labor involved. The intricate enamel work on jewelry or jeweler-quality personal items like snuff boxes, cigarette cases, pin and pill boxes, compacts, and the like require an artist’s touch.
Because enamel is a form of glass, it can be made as artfully as glass– opaque, translucent or transparent. It can also be made to resemble gems, like ruby, emerald or opal, or hard stones such as lapis, malachite and jade.
Basse-taille (low cut work) is a techniques were a shallow design is cut in the metal ground plate and visible through the transparent enamel. When the design has been intricately machine cut, the technique is called guilloche (“gwee-osh”), from the French word for curlicue.
In plique-a-jour (open to the day), the thin metal ground plate is removed after firing so the light can shine through the translucent enamel.
Battersea enamel work features colorful scenes and florals mostly on boxes. It gets its name from the city where they originated the technique in the mid-1700s, but it was, and still is made by many different companies in the Staffordshire region of England.
Micromosaic work is an Italian specialty featuring tiny chips of enamel arranged in a mosaic design on decorative objects and jewelry.
It is a technique that goes back to the Medieval stained glass craftsmen. It returned with the Italian glass revival of the mid-20th Century (ca.1925-ca.1955), and those pieces are showing up in today’s antique shops.
Sometimes we pass things up in antique shops because we just don’t understand them fully. Once we understand something like enamel work, it opens up a whole new world to us and makes antiquing much more fun.

Arthur Schwerdt. A certified appraiser, is the author of “The Antique Story Book: Finding the Real Value of Old Things,” and co-owner of The August Farmhouse Antiques on Route 9 in Swainton. Send your comments or questions to aschwerdt@cmcherald.net.