Russian silver, enamel, cloisonne and niello beakers and tumblers

Usually of tapering cylindrical shape and without handles, silver beakers have been made from the 17th century onwards, but most examples appearing on the Australian market date from the mid Victorian period to the 20th century. They were popular as trophies for masculine sporting events. Other shapes are the bell shape which has a flared top, and the half-barrel shape. Some beakers have embossed and/or chased decoration.

Cloisonne is an enamelling technique in which the pattern is formed by wires soldered to the surface of the object to be decorated, which is usually made from copper, forming cells or cloisons, each of which holds a single colour of enamel paste which is then fired, and ground and polished.

The champleve technique also uses an enamelling technique, but the cells are formed by carving into the surface ot the object, or in the casting.

The cloisonne technique has been in use since the 12th century BC in the west, but the technique did not reach China until the more... 13th or 14th century. It became popular in China in the 18th century. Initially bronze or brass bodies were used, and in the 19th century copper, at which time the quality of th eitems produced began to decline.

Chinese cloisonné is the best known enamel cloisonné, though the Japanese produced large quantities from the mid-19th century, of very high technical quality.

In the west the cloisonne technique was revived in the mid 19th century following imports from China, and its use continued in the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods. less...