One of a Pair of Vases with Dragon Handles

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Cloisonné is a technique for creating designs on metal whereby enclosures made from copper or bronze wire that has been bent or hammered into a desired pattern are filled with colored glass paste. Known as cloisons (French for "partitions"), the enclosures are generally pasted or soldered onto the metal body. The glass paste, or enamel, is colored with metallic oxide and painted into the contained areas. The vessel is then fired, usually at a relatively low temperature, about 800 degrees centigrade. As enamels commonly shrink during firing, the process has to be repeated several times to fill the entire design. Once this process is completed, the surface of the vessel is burnished until the edges of the cloisons are visible.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art