Cloisonne

Cloisonne is a decorative technique for applying enamel, glass, or gemstone inlay to a metal object, in which thin metal strips called cloisons, from the French for partitions, are soldered edge-up onto a metal base to form small compartments, which are then filled with colored enamel paste or inlay material and fired or set. The technique produces a design of separate colored cells outlined by fine metal borders, distinguishing it from champleve enamel, in which the compartments are carved or etched directly into the base metal rather than built up from applied wire. Cloisonne developed independently in several traditions, including Byzantine jewelry and reliquaries, Chinese cloisonne vessels from the Ming dynasty onward, and Japanese shippo ware, and it has been used across jewelry, religious objects, and decorative vessels for well over a thousand years.