Chinese Enamel: History of Conquest of Europe

Made in China. That doesn't sound right! 100 years ago it sounded really weighty. There is a very long tradition of jewellery art. It is significantly different from the West.

The main jewels have always been pendants and hairpins. Animal motifs, dragons, birds and so on were dominating. Stone carving was constantly used: jade, coral and cinnabar. All this is complemented by filigree, granulation, silver gilt or gold.

Since the early 19th century, Oriental motifs entered European culture so deep that there was a special word — "chinoiserie". If you translate literally — "Chinese". In fact, active use of Oriental art techniques. They were in painting, decorative plastics, tableware, clothing and jewellery.
Having realized what Europeans needed, Japanese and the Chinese people adapted their jewellery and then exported to the West. In turn, European jewellers also adopted several techniques from Eastern artisans.

In the pictures below you can learn more about heirs of this long relationship. These ornaments are made in the late 19th — early 20th centuries in China. The scan with enamel and central stone is a typical example of Chinese export jewellery. One of the notable differences from the Russian enamels is colours.