Translucent green lozenge-shaped enamel decorated with vegetal motifs. Front photograph.

Small enamelled plate, Cl. 21386 © GrandPalaisRmn / Jean-Gilles Berizzi

Translucent green hexagonal enamel decorated with vegetal motifs. Front photograph.

Small enamelled plate, Cl. 21387 © GrandPalaisRmn / Jean-Gilles Berizzi

Translucent green lozenge-shaped enamel decorated with plant motifs. Front view photograph.

Small enamelled plate, Cl. 23411a © GrandPalaisRmn / Jean-Gilles Berizzi

Translucent green lozenge-shaped enamel adorned with botanical motifs. Front view photograph.

Small enamelled plate, Cl. 23411b © GrandPalaisRmn / Jean-Gilles Berizzi

Translucent green lozenge-shaped enamel featuring vegetal patterns. Front view photograph.

Piqué enamel, Cl. 23411 c © GrandPalaisRmn / Jean-Gilles Berizzi

Translucent green hexagonal enamel adorned with vegetal motifs. Front view photograph.

Small enamelled plate, Cl. 23411d © GrandPalaisRmn / Jean-Gilles Berizzi

Small enamelled plates

Description

On display - room 10

Circa 1300

High Middle Ages

The term for the plique du jour technique used in "small enamelled plates" may come from the term "applique", which is used to refer to ornaments sewn onto garments. These luxurious decorative pieces are custom creations by Parisian goldsmiths around 1300.

They display an ornamental array of clovers, hearts, and circles, bordered by fine golden partitions and filled with opaque blue, red, and white enamel, or translucent clear enamel.

Crafted using a variation of the cloisonné enamel technique, they are exquisite and refined, allowing transparency and light to interact. 
 

From one artwork to another

Stone sculpture: an angel blowing a horn near figures emerging from their tombs. Front view.

Resurrection of the Dead from Notre-Dame de Paris, Cl. 18643 © GrandPalaisRmn / Michel Urtado

Resurrection of the Dead

13th century

Sculpted and fragmented head depicting a man with curly beard wearing a hat. Front-facing stone sculpture.

Head of the king of Judah No. 6, Notre-Dame de Paris, Cl. 22988 © GrandPalaisRmn / René-Gabriel Ojeda

Heads of the kings of Judah

First half of the 13th century

Stone capital decorated with acanthus leaves. Front photograph.

Acanthus-decorated capital from the Abbey of Saint-Denis, Cl. 12119 © GrandPalaisRmn / Michel Urtado

Capitals from Saint-Denis

1140-1145