French Champleve Enamel And Bronze Dressing Tray

French Champleve Enamel And Bronze Dressing Tray. Circa 1900. Probably Limoges. The Two-Handled Tray With A Mirror Inset Bottom, The Handholds With Enamel On Copper Scenes Of Courting Couples, With Foliate And Scroll Polychrome Enamel Throughout. Length 15 ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????. Width 9 ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????. Champlev???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? is an enamelling technique in the decorative arts, or an object made by that process, in which troughs or cells are carved, etched, die struck, or cast into the surface of a metal object, and filled with vitreous enamel. The piece is then fired until the enamel fuses, and when cooled the surface of the object is polished. The uncarved portions of the original surface remain visible as a frame for the enamel designs; typically they are gilded in medieval work. The name comes from the French for "raised field", "field" meaning background, though the technique in practice lowers the area to be enamelled rather than raising the rest of the surface.