[CR]Cloisonne and Pronunciation

(Example: Framebuilders:Bernard Carré)

To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 09:40:46 -0400
From: <loudeeter@aol.com>
Subject: [CR]Cloisonne and Pronunciation

When I see something like this, I usually just google it.  Th is popped up.  What I enjoy just as much is asking my wife how to pronounce things that I'm not sure of, like Italian bike names!  In thi s case, I ask my wife, "how do you pronounce this?"  She says , "cla son a' "  with the accent and a long a on the end.  Â I think, "boy, I'm stupid".  Kind of reminds me of when I firs t started looking at Campagnolo Record, when I lived in Europe.  A  German friend told me it was "Re Kord'" accent on the second syllabl e with a long o.  I still pronounce it that way sometimes.   I think he must have owned an Opel car!!  I have no idea wh at is correct.  With my southern accent, I'm not sure that it matt ers.  Lou Deeter, Orlando FL USA

 Cloisonné process

First, the artist forms metal (such as copper or brass) into the shape of th e finished object.

A paper pattern and a pencil are used to transfer a design to the metal obje ct.

Partitions (French: cloisons) that act as color-separators are applied accor ding to the transferred pattern and are held in place by a soldering paste ( this is finely divided metal of low melting temperature in a flux paste). Th e partitions are bent and cut to length from flat wire stock (usually by han d using simple pliers) while the paste is applied with a small brush.

Heating the piece in an oven permanently affixes the partitions to the base metal by melting the solder. The piece is then allowed to cool.

Frit (glass crushed to a powder) in a water-based paste is painted into the partitions using an annotated pattern similar to the "paint by numbers" craf t technique. After the frit has dried, firing in an oven melts it onto the m etal. Several repetitions of the process may ensue to build up the coatings to the height of the partitions. Various colors and transparencies may be us ed in combination within a single partition to obtain the desired artistic e ffect.

The glass and a portion of the cloisons are ground and polished to form an e ven and smooth surface.

The exposed metal is electroplated with a thin film of gold to prevent corro sion and to give a pleasing appearance.