Miniature Painting on Enamel – 17th Century
Erika Speel
In the 1991 Summer issue of the Journal, the article "Enamel Portrait Miniatures mid-19C to the present" covered some of the later developments of one branch of the very specialised art of miniature painting on enamel. The origins of this art came in the 17th century. (Below I give some references in respect of the early methods for enamel miniatures, for those who wish to follow this up in detail.)
The heading painted enamels covers a very wide output of pieces. For the miniature style, the pictures are made by fusing overglazes derived from metallic oxides to a pre-fired enamel grounding. Until the 19th century, this method was usually confined to very small pieces otherwise there was a high failure rate as problems arose, for instance in colour control due to the many firings and cracks in the glaze or warping of the base due to stresses.
In contrast to the inlaid methods of enamelling, the painted techniques were less tradition dominated. The painters adapted methods to keep up with the fashions in the fine and decorative arts. The need for such changes came quite rapidly from the latter part of the 17th century; the new styles were usually originated in Paris and influenced the trends in most of the other European capitals. This was naturally of great benefit to the craftsmen and artists as it brought renewed demand for their skills.