ENAMELING is the fusing of glass to metal under high heat conditions.

Plique-a-jour: French for “membrane through which passes the light of day.”

Pliqu'e a jour is a technique of decoration by which design is outlined in metal and filled with variously coloured transparent enamels.

There is no backing behind the enamels so that the effect is similar to that of a stained glass window.

There are two basic methods of pliqué a jour: surface-tension enameled and etched-enameled.

The surface-tension method has two different styles of metal construction: the first is pierced. The second style is filigree or skeletal framework. The filigree style was first used in the11th century and accepted all over the world.

Especially in the 15th century this type of enameling was used by Benvenuto Cellini and others in the Renaissance period. Later on however this style was forgotten.

The process was reintroduced in France in the late 19th century when was used extensively by Rene Lalique