Cloisonné Kitties

Whenever I wear these sweet enamel earrings I am complimented, from giggling young beauty therapists in District 1, to more jaded waitresses in Windsor. I rescued them from a jewellery stall at Ben Thanh Market in Saigon. The said therapists were thrilled to learn they could buy their own right there in Saigon, for less than US$5.

Cloisonné is an ancient metalworking technique of pouring liquid enamel into compartments formed by thin bands of metal. It was first developed in the Near East, and then spread to the Byzantine Empire (one of my favourite periods in art) and on to China via the Silk Road. Here are some examples:

Clockwise from top left: cuff, 9th–10th century, Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki; Jen Forland Designs earrings from etsy.com; egg cup by Slatikov, Moscow ca 1900; making cloisonné, from cultural-china.com; Water Lilies by Greig Steiner. As for the woven ribbon cushion, I snatched that up at the Salvos for $2. I was rather amused to see the prior owner’s cat had mangled it in patches, overzealously kneading its paws no doubt. An appropriate backdrop for my sedate little kitties then.