Cloisonné first developed in the jewellery of the ancient Near East, and the earliest enamel all used the cloisonné technique, placing the enamel within small cells with gold walls. This had been used as a technique t… See more

First the object to be decorated is made or obtained; this will normally be made by different craftspeople. The metal usually used for making the body is copper, since it is cheap, light and easily hammered and stretched, but … See more

• The 8th-century Irish Ardagh Chalice
• The Alfred Jewel, a 9th-century Anglo-Saxon ornament
• The Khakhuli triptych, a large gold altarpiece with over 100 Georgian and Byzantine plaques, dating from the 8th to 12th centuri… See more