Chinese cloisonne has a long history

If you have ever held a Chinese cloisonne vase or plate in your hands, you'd be amazed how beautiful it is.

Chinese cloisonne has a long history dated back to the 15th century. The Mongolian kings conquered many lands in ancient mid-east countries, such as Persia. They brought back many skilled cloisonne enamel workers from these areas to China. These skilled craftmen settled down in China and started to produce enamel wares such as cloisonne plate and cloisonne vase. They also brought in high quality enamel powders to China. From the few cloisonne enamel wares unearthed from Yuan Dynasty, you can find these glossy glass like hard enamels. This is different than the semi opaque enamels you'd find in later period Chinese cloisonne, such as those ones in Ming and Qing Dynasty.

These cloisonne enamel wares from ancient Persia were not well accepted by the Chinese locals at that time. China considered itself as the center of the world back in those times and artifacts from a less advanced culture was considered sub-standard. But these Persian artisans continued to produce these beautiful wares which eventually became the world famous cloisonne enamel. It took about 500 years before the world fell in love with these beautiful enamels.

Chinese cloisonne wares are still produced today. But due to mass production, the quality has decreased significantly from its prime times.