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Information about Victorian Enameling
The Great Russian jeweler Peter Carl Faberge is famous for his pieces created for the last ruling family of the Romanov Dynasty: Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, Princesses Tatiana, Olga, Maria, Anastasia, and prince Alexey.
Faberge eggs and table top decorations were completely hand crafted using Faberge's innovative goldsmith techniques, elevating the pieces to the previously unknown level of excellence. In his works, Faberge incorporated enamel in 144 different colors, which, when applied layer upon layer, produced innumerable hues of enamel.
The masterpieces are now scattered around the world in museums and private collections. They possess immediately recognizable qualities and perfection both in design and execution. We strive for the same in our product.
What is vitreous enamel?
It is the colorful result of fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 degrees Celsius. The powder melts and flows and hardens to a smooth, durable vitreous coating on metal, glass or ceramic. It often is applied as a paste, and may be transparent or opaque when fired; vitreous enamel can be applied to most metals. We use copper as the base metal. Vitreous enamel has many excellent properties: it is smooth, hard, chemically resistant and durable, can assume brilliant, long-lasting colors, and cannot burn. Enameling is an old and widely-adopted technology. The ancient Egyptians applied enamels to pottery and stone objects. Other practitioners include the ancient Greeks, Celts, Russians, and the Chinese. The bright, jewel-like colors have also made enamel a favored choice for designers of jewelry and bibelots, such as ancient beads, the fantastic eggs of Peter Carl Fabergé, enameled copper boxes of Battersea enamellers, and artists such as George Stubbs and other painters of portrait miniatures. Enameling was a favorite technique of the Art Nouveau jewelers.
How is each piece created?
We create an individual design for each piece by drawing it on paper. The metal molds are used to create the copper shapes. Often, many metal molds are needed to create a single ornament. At least two metal molds are needed when creating such simple shapes as a ball or an egg. Wires are used in order to transfer the drawn design onto the copper base. The wires are applied using glue. The piece is then covered with a soldering paste, and heated in a kiln in order to ensure the wires are permanently attached. The wires act as color separators and permit the enamel to stay in place. The powdered minerals mixed with water (liquid enamel paint) are applied onto the partitions created by wires in accordance to the design drawn on the piece of paper. The piece is then left to air dry. When dry, the piece is heated up to 850 degrees Celsius in a kiln where the dried mineral crystals are melted resulting in the formation of the enamel. The application of the powdered minerals mixed in water is repeated several times in order to create shadows and various color hues within each of the partitions. Each time a layer is applied, it is left to dry and is then heated in a kiln. This is repeated until the desired outcome is reached. Due to the heating, the copper base that was not covered with enamel, experiences oxidation. This is cleaned using chemicals and prepares the piece for gold plating. The gold film is applied by electroplating onto the metal that has not been covered with the enamel in order to prevent further oxidation of the copper.
Are all the pieces original?
Yes. Each piece is designed by the company owners and the copy of any of the pieces is prohibited.
The production of each design is limited to up to 500 pieces. |
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