PLIQUE-A-JOUR

 Plique-a-Jour is the most sophisticated and complex art of vitreous enameling technique there is. Originated in the Byzantine Empire of the 6th century and revived in the late 19th century by Art Nouveau movement jewelry revivalists. Carl Faberge, Rene Lalique, and Louis Tiffany were the true pioneers in bringing back to us this breathtaking objects d’art.

But what exactly is Plique-a-Jour? The answer is simple—it is glass fused to precious metal. Nothing more. Just like well-known cloisonne, but without metal backing. The pieces are transparent because of the absence of backing, letting the light intensify and reflect the colors like a miniature stained-glass window. The term “plique-a-jour,” partly Italian and partly French in derivation, literally means “similar to a membrane (plique) stretched in the way that the light of the day (a jour) may pass through, was invented by Faberge, who was not fluent in French or Italian.

His firm, located in Saint Petersburg, and numerous upscale stores which spread throughout Russian Empire and Western Europe, lasted until Bolsheviks came to power in 1917. Faberge fled and soon died of depression in Switzerland, and his team of great artists was exiled or executed as “enemies of the people.” With the House of Faberge gone, the art of Plique-a-Jour was soon forgotten until mid-70 s, when the Soviet government commissioned retired military officer and hobbyist jeweler Valery Timofeev to repair damaged Faberge pieces. It was a success: not only was he able to recreate the old technique, but he also adopted it to modern technology and tools–school followed, first in Russia, then in the United States.

Today, almost every Plique-a-Jour artist in the world (little more than a dozen) is his former student. The most notable in the United States is my dear friend, Luba Warrack of North Carolina. I never met Timofeev. My technique was also developed in the 19th century in Hungary and kept in the family. I tried to blend both methods in my works to create something new, I think, successfully.