Early in the 1400's someone discovered (or took a good look at the millefiori in Celtic enamel) that a design of juxta- positioned colored enamels would not intermingle when heated to their fusing temperature. Partitions were not necessary! Then someone found that one color could be applied over another with a second firing. The big discovery-thin metal-could be used if enamel was applied to both sides prior to firing. The result was a new technique called painted enamel (painting with enamel is perhaps a more accurate description). Other crafts and trades took note, made discoveries, and the Renaissance was off and running!

I t is believed that vitreous enamel work had its beginning with early civilizations around the Mediterranean from the sixth century B.C. or even earlier. Greek sculpture from the fifth century B.C. shows surfaces with areas of inlaid metal covered with enamel. The ancient Greek goldsmiths inlaid their jewelry with thin coatings of white and blue enamel between gold wires. This is one of the first examples of the cloisonné process. By the third century B.C., the enamel process had spread to England and Ireland. The process continued to move slowly from Europe to Asia Minor and the Middle East, to India and China, and then to Japan by the third century A.D.