Cloisonné ranks as one of
China's major contributions to the world's
fine arts.
Dating back over 500 years, the technique was adopted and readapted by the
Japanese in the 19th century. One of the products of this reinvention by the Japanese was making Cloisonné on porcelain as opposed to the traditional copper, bronze or gold.
The production process is complex, elaborate and requires a lot of skill. It includes base-hammering, soldering, enamel-filling, enamel firing, polishing and gilding.
The Japanese word for Cloisonné is Shippo.