cloisonné

Ornamental craft technique in which thin metal strips are soldered in a pattern onto a metal surface, and the resulting compartments (cloisons) filled with coloured enamels and fired. The technique was probably developed in the Byzantine Middle East and traded to Asia and Europe. Cloisonné vases and brooches were made in medieval Europe, but the technique was perfected in Japan and China during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.