Incense Burner

Incense Burner

196
Incense Burner
China; Ming dynasty; 17th c.

Ornaments in the cloisonné technique were made by inlaying grains of glass paste of each colour into a separate embossed wire cell. When heated at 8000 C the glass paste melted and covered the cell. Because the glass paste shrank the process was repeated until it filled the entire cell. Then the surface was polished until the top of the wire form was exposed. Finally the metal parts were gilded.