Champlevé (from the French champ levé, meaning "raised field") is an enamelling technique in which recesses or cells are cut, etched, or cast directly into a metal ground — most commonly copper, bronze, or gold — and then filled with powdered vitreous enamel before being fired in a kiln. Once cooled, the enamel surface is ground and polished until it sits flush with, or fractionally below, the surrounding metal ridges, which may themselves be burnished to a high contrast against the enamel's matte or glossy finish. The result is an object in which colour and metal are structurally unified rather than merely juxtaposed.

Distinction from Cloisonné

The essential technical distinction between champlevé and its better-known cousin cloisonné lies in how the cells are formed. In cloisonné, thin wires — cloisons — are soldered or adhered to a metal base to create partitions, which are then filled with enamel. In champlevé, no applied wire is used; the walls that separate one colour field from another are the metal itself, left standing as the craftsman excavates the surrounding material. This means the design is, in a literal sense, drawn in relief before the enamel is introduced. The technique demands considerable skill in metalwork prior to any enamelling, and the thickness of the base metal must be sufficient to accommodate the depth of the recesses without compromising structural integrity.

Historical Development

The origins of champlevé are ancient. Celtic metalworkers of the British Isles and Gaul were producing champlevé-enamelled bronze objects — harness fittings, brooches, and sword scabbard mounts — from at least the first century BCE. The technique spread across the Roman world and was subsequently adopted with great sophistication by Byzantine craftsmen working in gold.

The medieval period saw champlevé reach one of its highest expressions in the workshops of the Meuse Valley and the Rhineland, and most notably in Limoges, France. From the twelfth century onwards, Limoges became synonymous with copper-based champlevé production, supplying reliquaries, book covers, croziers, and altar furnishings to churches across Europe. The deep, saturated blues and greens characteristic of Limoges work — achieved through copper-based colorants in the glass — remain among the most recognisable achievements of medieval decorative arts.

The technique experienced a significant commercial revival in the nineteenth century, driven by historicist taste and by the expansion of industrial metalworking that made large-scale production of cast copper blanks economically viable. Firms in France, Austria, and Britain produced champlevé objects — clocks, inkstands, candlesticks, and jewellery — in considerable quantity for the Victorian and Edwardian markets.

Technical Process

The production of a champlevé object involves several distinct stages:

• Preparation of the ground: A sufficiently thick sheet or casting of metal is prepared. Copper is the most common base metal for decorative objects; gold or silver is used in fine jewellery.
• Excavation of cells: Recesses are created by engraving with a burin, by acid etching through a resist, or by casting the metal with the cells already formed. Engraving allows the greatest precision; casting is suited to high-volume production.
• Enamel application: Powdered glass — coloured with metallic oxides — is packed into the recesses in successive layers, each layer fired separately in a kiln at temperatures typically between 750 °C and 850 °C.
• Finishing: Once the enamel has reached the desired level, the surface is ground with abrasive stones and then polished. The metal ridges are often burnished or gilded; the enamel may be left with a slight concavity (en creux) or brought perfectly flush.

Use in Jewellery

In jewellery, champlevé is most frequently encountered in gold or silver work where the recesses are engraved by hand. The technique was employed extensively during the Arts and Crafts movement and by Art Nouveau jewellers, who valued its capacity to render organic, flowing colour fields within a continuous metal surface. Unlike plique-à-jour, which is translucent and requires no backing, champlevé enamel is opaque or semi-opaque and derives its visual weight from the contrast between saturated colour and polished metal. It remains in use by contemporary studio jewellers and by established maisons producing enamel-dial watches, where the technique is prized for its durability and its integration of colour directly into the metal substrate.

Further Reading

• GIA Gems & Gemology — Enamel in Jewellery