GeorgiaPhilippeEnamels

As I note, these are some of my whimsical and fanciful designs.

Click on a picture and information and pricing will appear.

About the Process

 In enameling, you begin with a plain sheet of metal, usually silver in my case.  You form it, clean it and lay out your design.  You lay down a base coat of enamel and fire it at about 1450*.  You enamel the back with several layers of enamel, to counter the enamel layers you will build up on the front.  After bending your fine silver or gold wires, you arrange them on the surface and fire them in the kiln, sinking them slightly into the base enamel.  After all this, you can begin to color.

Most of my enamels have at least 15 layers, all fired individually.  The colors are built up very thinly, creating the depth.  Shading is done with thinning of a color or adding others.  Once all your enameling is done, you stone grind it down to a smooth surface and either flash fire it or lapidary polish it. 

It is an extremely time intensive process.

More Information

As I've mentioned, I work in silver and gold.  All my pieces are done on a base of fine (.999 pure) silver, whether the cloisonne` wires are silver or gold.  Silver gives the enamels the colors they were designed to have, and can have almost a mirror finish or patterned, showing under the enamels.

I sometimes will use fine silver that has been engine-turned.  Engine turned is almost a lost art, where tiny grooves are engraved into the metal in slightly offset lines, creating a moire` look.  It was used extensively by Faberge` in his Easter Eggs for the Tsar and his family in Imperial Russia.  Fortunately there are still some people who will do the process, though it adds substantially to the cost of the piece.