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Enamel (glass) facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
British Museum Royal Gold Cup
The Royal Gold Cup, 23.6 cm high, 17.8 cm across at its widest point; weight 1.935 kg, British Museum. Decorated with enamel and pearls. It was made for the French royal family at the end of the 14th century.
Box holy oils Louvre OA6935
Box with angels, intended to contain small bottles of holy oils. Champlevé enamel over gilt copper, early 13th century, Limoges
For other uses of the word, see Enamel

Enamel is made of melted glass, often on metal. Sometimes called vitreous or porcelain enamel, it is made by fusing powdered glass to a base by firing, usually between 750 and 850°C (1,380 and 1,560°F). The powder melts, flows, and then hardens to a smooth, durable coating on metal, or on glass or ceramics.

It has been used on decorative objects for two or three thousand years, but especially in the Middle Ages in Europe. In the 19th century, it was used on everyday objects such as kitchen equipment and road signs. The glass is hard-wearing, scratch resistant and easy to clean.

Lindenstraße alt
Old German enamel street sign

Images for kids

  • 0 Reliquaire grandmontain - MR 2648 - Louvre (1)

    Gothic châsse; 1185–1200; champlevé enamel over copper gilded; height: 17.7 cm, width: 17.4 cm, depth: 10.1 cm; Louvre-Lens (Lens, France)

  • 明早期 掐絲琺瑯菱花口碟-Dish with scalloped rim MET DT7072 (cropped)

    Chinese dish with scalloped rim, from the Ming Dynasty; early 15th century; cloisonné enamel; height: 2.5 cm, diameter: 15.2 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)

  • Staffordshire Moorlands Pan (1284837406)

    Staffordshire Moorlands Pan, 2nd-century Roman Britain

  • Waddesdon bequest British Museum DSCF9814 05

    Detail of painted Limoges enamel dish, mid-16th century, attributed to Jean de Court, Waddesdon Bequest

  • Chinese - Wine Pot - Walters 44569 - Side (cropped)

    Chinese cloisonné enamel bronze wine pot, 18th century

  • Khalili Collection Japanese Meiji Art E83

    Imperial vases by Ando Jubei, with the chrysanthemum crests of the Imperial family, using moriage to slightly raise the design; Khalili Collection of Japanese Art

  • MeenaKaari2

    Meenakaari art from Iran

  • 2008-08-17 grijs gewolkt

    Grey clouds, typical enamel cooking gear from the Dutch DRU factory, popular in the 1950s

  • Ground vitreous enamel powder in different colors

    Glass vials with ground vitreous enamel powder in different colors

  • PlacaDormicion MAN

    Medallion of the Death of the Virgin, with basse-taille enamel, partly fallen away

  • British Museum -Dunstable Swan Jewel -side cropped close

    The Dunstable Swan Jewel, a livery badge in ronde bosse enamel, about 1400. British Museum

  • Anker1-comp

    View into a glass-lined chemical reactor

  • Turborührer

    Turb-mixer in a glass-lined chemical reactor

  • Silver, silver gilt and painted enamel beaker, Burgundian Netherlands, c. 1425-1450, The Cloisters

    Silver, silver gilt and painted enamel beaker, Burgundian Netherlands, c. 1425–1450, The Cloisters, nyc

  • Normandie Manche Avranches3 tango7174

    Limoges? grisaille painted Stations of the Cross, Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Avranches

  • Musée Châlons-St Grégoire edit 3

    St. Gregory the Great in painted Limoges enamel on a copper plaque, by Jacques I Laudin

  • Louis George Feuer-Emaille-Zifferblatt 01

    Louis George enamel watch dial

  • Iranian vitreous enamel

    Iranian enamel

See also

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