"Lover Birds in the Blue" Shotai Plique-à-jour Blue & Gold Shippo-cloisonne Floral plate - Item Sold

Plique-à-jour, which in French means “letting in daylight,” is a vitreous enameling technique where the enamel is applied in cells, similar to cloisonné, but with no backing in the final product, so light can shine through the transparent or translucent enamel. It is in effect a miniature version of stained-glass and is considered very challenging technically. In Japan the technique is known as Shotai-jippo (shotai shippo), and can be found in pieces from the 19th century and on. The technique was developed in the #Byzantine Empire in 6th century AD and despite its complexity, Plique-à-jour tableware was used by the aristocracy in #Kievan #Russia, for example. In Western #Europe, the Byzantine technique to create Plique-à-jour was adopted in the 13th century. The Pre 19th century pieces are extremely rare to find because of their "extreme fragility. In the late 19th century, the technique was revived through the movement of revivalist jewelry. It became especially popular in Russia and #Scandinavia.
The plate is 9 inches of diameter, 2 millimeters thick and the fix price is $100.