48 
House b° Garden 
A characteristic design of 
variety box in Battersea 
enamel, made in the 18th 
Century 
BATTERSEA ENAMELS 
Here Is An Easily Collectable Subject For 
Those Who Are Attracted By Small Objects 
GARDNER TEALL 
V ENICE has given the 
world much in art 
throughout the centuries of 
her history, and to her, per¬ 
haps, painted enamel work 
is to be credited for its ori¬ 
gin. It seems reasonable to 
assume that this ancient 
Adriatic city cradled this 
branch of art-craftsman¬ 
ship, since the Venetians 
produced the first European 
work of the sort. 
I fancy that the old lady 
of Putney who set such 
store by her “bricky- 
bracky” and grouped her 
“heavy things” on the 
mantel shelf and the “light-weight ones” on 
the corner whatnot, must have counted 
among these less weighty possessions a bit 
of old Battersea enamel in the form of a 
pounce-box, a bonbonniere, an etui or some 
other object such as the enamelers of Bat¬ 
tersea delighted in producing for the 18th 
Century boudoir. In that century the 
painted enamel wares of Battersea were pro¬ 
digiously popular. I am not sure but that 
they were even more popular in the 19th, 
if one may judge by the vogue of the old 
pieces and the innumerable products of the 
imitators. 
Painted enamels may be placed in a dis¬ 
tinct class by themselves. Applique enamels 
An 18th Cen¬ 
tury Battersea 
etui 
An opera telescope, with 
Battersea enamel panels. 
Courtesy of E. P. Dut¬ 
ton dr Co. 
are simply metal ornaments (usually gold) 
decorated with bits of enamel in relief; 
Cloisonne enamels are those whose patterns 
have been outlined on a metal ground by 
raised metal partitions or cloisons, between 
which the enamel has been applied, the 
cloisons in the finished product forming 
metal outlines flush with the enamel surface 
after firing, grinding and polishing; Cham- 
pleve enamels are these 
having enamel decoration 
imbedded in a cut metal 
ground; Plique a jour enam¬ 
els are those enameled pieces 
having the pattern cut quite 
through the ground and the 
interstices filled in 
enamel giving somewhat the effect in minia¬ 
ture of a stained glass window; finally there 
are the Basse-taille enamels or translucid 
enamels applied over decoration in bas- 
relief, the metal relief designs below the 
enamel application being cast, stamped, 
engraved, or in repousse, these designs on 
the metal showing through the enamel, the 
varying degrees of the thickness of which 
gives variety to color effect. 
It will thus be seen that 
painted enamels occupy a 
distinct position. 
A Venetian glass-worker 
of Murano, Angelo Bro- 
viero, invented a process of 
enameling on glass and from 
(Continued on page 84) 
Snuff boxes were favorite objects 
for decoration with Battersea 
enamel in the 18th Century 
These enamel puff boxes, a favour¬ 
ite subject, are usually fitted with a 
mirror inside the lid 
{Below) A little Battersea 
enamel writing case, as fitted 
and made in the iSth Century 
Scent bottle of Battersea 
with decorations and met¬ 
al stopper 
Variety box with colored 
decorations and quaint 
metal trim 
