Cloisonne Frog

Did the Chinese use silver wires? I know the Japanese did and the Chinese copper and brass wires which were gilded. Any suggestions on the age?
Thanks

 

All I can speak to is an age guess. I'd guess 0-20 years.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Could you provide reasons for it? I am trying to figure how to date the old cloisonne.

 

I remember these from the early 80s. If you look close at it, it is not made as well as the older stuff. It has a rougher appearance and not as detailed.

 

Hm, there seems to be a rule that in general, older stuff ( brass, wood whatever) is supposed to be of a better quality than recent ones.
That may be true to some extent but cannot be the only factor for determining age.
Let's take Chinese porcelain. Indeed, some old pieces are of great quality but you can find wares from late Qing and Early Republic periods ( which are considered antique) to be poorely made and with sloppy decoration. Of course, not Imperial pieces but pieces that were made for the ordinary people for every day use.
Then, you have recent replicas that are very finely made.
I believe Asian cloisonne was not made only for the Palace or other officials. Most likely during the later periods they started to be made for the ordinary people and exported. And probably the pieces were of poorer quality.

 

Well then, that's a good reason to stay away from poor quality items....of all stripes !

 

I'm afraid that this is a very poor example of Cloisonné work and is not old at all.

The wires which make up the individual "cloisons" as they are known are made from gold, silver or brass. In antique pieces these "cloisons" are individual and not perfectly shaped like newer pieces which are machine made.

There are many differences that set antique cloisonné apart from newer pieces and the image you have posted clearly shows this.